New Companion and Fighting an Army (1/2)

Aoi POV

After an hour we managed to get back to camp with the enslaved people and our soldiers that we had mount the new wolves that Oda had tamed.

In that time I had fed our lord all the High-grade healing potions carefully, every five minutes as instructed by Alice.

Seeing Lady Eriae with her guards while waiting for us made me have a better impression of her than before and seeing her serious expression on her face I smiled gently.

As we neared, she suddenly spoke with a voice full of amazement seeing the Tetsujin army return with no casualty on their side.

Eriae: "I greet you lady Aoi, but may I ask whe-"

Before she could continue she saw Alexis-sama's critical condition with white flames covering Alexis-sama's torn body from the waist down and an arm of white flames with a strand of black in the middle.

Eriae: "H-how could Alexis be in such a condition? What happened to him...?

Before I could speak about our encounter Katsuyori beat me to it and told Lady Eriae about Lord Alexis killing Zephyr in an honorable duel.

Looking around the area, I asked Hanzō if he could guard around the surroundings for anything unusual.

Hanzō: "Hai, I will guard the perimeter red Oni"

Looking at Hanzō's back I smiled before focusing back on Katsuyori explaining things to Eriae who had a confused expression on her face.

Eriae: "We had heard a loud explosion off in the distance with a heatwave coming straight at us. So it seems it was their doing..."

I nodded and told her we will have new guests arriving soon but soon Eriae's expression turned to worry.

Eriae: "With Elia's help we managed to find out that a large army has been gathering forces and is heading off to the forest where the massive explosion occured"

Oda: "How long has it been since their arrival? How many soldiers are within the army? What will they be composed of?"

Eriae: "They started gathering their forces 45 minutes after the explosion and with a huge occurrence within the Kingdom of Barsil's borders we might be seeing a force around 400 to investigate from the nearby city"

Eriae: "According to my personal guards report, there seems to be 4 platoons, with 2/3rds of their army being made up of Militia and Infantry"

Oda: "If their army is composed as the same as ours back then, 100 soldiers per platoon, and 10-20 soldiers per squadron"

(Just making things up, so don't criticize me)

Eriae: "But, I believe the platoon of knights stationed in the city will be joining them as well"

Katsuyori: "If we count our total numbers, it is around 150, we have archers to strike from afar, and Cavalry to strike from both sides"

Oda: "We still wo-"

Katsuyori: "Let me speak, since it is a large force coming from afar, they will send a scouting party first to investigate the explosion"

Oda: "You-"

Katsuyori: "I am still speaking Old man, we can have archers or soldiers hiding in the trees and prepare for an ambush to reduce their numbers or use guerilla tactics to dwindle down their numbers"

Eriae: "Do you really plan on fighting an army of 400? Even if you dwindle down their numbers, you would need to be careful of their knights"

Oda: "Hah? With tactics anything is possible to achieve, I've fought in bloodier battles before with thousands!"

Katsuyori: "In your past Old man"

Oda: "Whatcha say brat!"

Seeing them fight I chuckled lightly before I told them to calm themselves down and focus on our current objective.

Oda: "Ahem, I agree with Katsuyori's plans but, do you have a mask miss Aoi?"

Thinking about Zephyrs room, I took out a folded map from the inventory before giving it to Oda who unfolded it and placed it on the ground and kneeled down.

Oda: "Let's see....hmm, guess we should be somewhere around the western side of the forest and the fort that was there was on the northeast and seems like the border you spoke of is in the Southeast with another army waiting there"

Katsuyori: "Then the army should be in the West right mis Eriae?"

Eriae: "Correct, but are you sure you will be able to win?'"

Katsuyori: "Without our Lord and Aoi it would have been a definite no, but since we achieved our newfound powers, we are able to defeat them"

Eriae: "But they can out-"

Katsuyori: We will beat them"

Eriae: "There will b-

Oda: "We will beat them"

Eriae: 'Lady Aoi, will you l-"

Aoi: "We will beat them, especially since our troops will be upgraded and with our Lord in a weakened state, we need to bulk up our forces"

Sigh

Eriae: "Fine then, I will let my family know about me being rescued before they do something drasti-"

While they were talking about the plan I looked at the new mission Alice had given me along with it's rewards that are generous that I agreed to

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quest~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Type: Raid/Ambush/Kill/

Time Limit: 8 Hours

Remaining Time: 5 Hours

Difficulty: A+

Objectives:

1.Kill/Ambush The Scouting party going towards the Crater

2. Don't let anyone escape from Ambush

3. Kill the Brasena City Army with no survivors

4. Kill/Interrogate 5 Mages from the Brasena Army.

Mission List:

-Kill Mages (0/5)

- Kill Infantry Platoons (0/2)

-kill Archer Platoon (0/1)

-Kill Zetra Knights (0/3)

-Kill Knight Platoon (0/1)

-Kill Knight Commander Elis (0/1)

-Kill Infantry Commander Hveth(0/1)

-Kill Archer Commander Víctor (0/1)

-Find and Capture Barsil Flag (0/1)

Rewards: 15x Tetsujin Musako Recruits, 25x traveling supplies, 20x Trained Tetsujin Archers, 10x Tetsujin Kizoku Warriors, 16,340x Gold, 10x Yumi Kihei, 2x Companion Summoning Card, 12x AP, 6x SP, 25x Honor Points

-Accept-

(Y)/N

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Before she could finish we heard a small explosion in the outer perimeter of the base and the Kanabo warriors rushed forwards.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Hanzo fighting with two dark-skinned people who both were hooded with two blades on both hands fighting Hanzo.

I looked at the figure in the back who had heavy armor on with a black cloak as he held a sword on his left hand and looked at the ongoing fight with a hint of surprise shown on his face.

I sighed softly before taking out my Noble Yumi Bow and nocking an arrow on my bow and aimed at the figure in the back before silently chanting as flames appeared on the tip of the arrow.

Aoi: "Taiyō no honō..."

As I finished the chanting I released the arrow and like a comet, it launched towards the figure in the back who had swiftly turned and lifted his sword before black shadows appeared under his feet and flew up to block the arrow.

BOOOM!!!

As the arrow flew and made contact with the hooded figure the shadow barrier they made was broken as it pierced through and had torn to asunder the flesh of the dark-skinned figure.

Looking more closely at the figure, he was an old man who had white hair and deep purple eyes with blood dripping from his mouth.

???: "Elder!"

???: "Master!"

???: "Hmm, *cough* I did not expect there to be such a dangerous person that would kidnap Young Eriae..."

As he looked at me from all the way inside the tent I had simply smiled before we both had disappeared from our position and appeared in another area.

I took out my katana before slashing at the Old man who raised his own sword in time to block my strike and back off looking at me seriously. I took out Bōryoku-tekina taiyō from my personal inventory and switched out my katana for my Ôdachi.

Aoi: "I wonder why you would attack us if you don't mind me asking...?"

???: "Well, it just seems that our Clans Heiress is with you miss...?"

Aoi: "I see, My name is Meishu Aoi, current Guardian of our Lord. What may your name be then?"

???: "An interesting name, my name is Dhenodvo Oreizic, as you heard from my two subordinates I am an Elder of Lady Eriae's Clan and master to my stoic disciple"

Dhedodvo: "May I ask if you can hand over our Lady Eriae miss Aoi?"

Aoi: "We never took her hostage, we helped her get out of captivity from a strong Bandit Fort"

Hearing my words, Dhedodvo was confused a bit before he had sighed in relief and lowered his weapon.

Dhedodvo: "Then this is all a misunderstanding, I will make sure t-"

BOOOM!

Before he could finish speaking his two subordinates were suddenly sent flying towards our direction and the sickle of the kusarigama wrapped itself around the both of them before Hanzō pulled on the chains bringing them both back to him and raising his left leg and kicked them in their abdomen.

As they were kicked squarely in the abdomen they had both coughed up saliva and swiftly sent flying towards Dhedodvo who looked at them both before shadows flew up from the ground and catched them before they could fall to the ground.

Looks like their both similar to Dhedodvo but they were assassin's clothing rather than a knights like his, interesting people the Clan Eriae comes from, has in their ranks.

Dhedodvo: "You both did well, you just happened to meet an extraordinary enemy"

Dhedodvo had looked at the approaching Hanzō who doned his red kitsune mask with his weapon on hand ready to strike at a moments notice.

Aoi: "Stand guard Hanzō, this seems to be a misunderstanding..."

Hanzō: "Hmm"

Seeing him nod I looked back at the Old man before calling over a Kanabo Warriors to bring Eriae and her bodyguards to meet her family.

Looking more closely at Hanzo I opened up his status bar and was surprised about a few new additions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Hanzō Hattori

Race: Human

Health: 125

Level: 60

Current: Experience: 106,345

Experience until level Up: 104,765

Titles: Hattori the Demon Hanzō, True Iga Ninja, Silent Killer, Leader of Iga-Ninja

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Attribute-

STR: 32

AGI: 45

INT: 30

CHA: 20

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Skills-

Iron flesh: 13

Power Strike: 12

Power Throw: 19

Weapon Master: 18

Ninjutsu: 22

Shield: 5

Athletics: 19

Riding: 15

Horse Archery: 9

Looting: 5

Trainer: 12

Tracking: 18

Tactics: 8

Path Finding: 16

Spotting: 15

Inventory Management: 5

Wound Treatment: 6

Surgery: 6

First Aid: 7

Engineer: 4

Persuasion: 8

Prisoner Management: 8

Leadership: 15

Trade: 5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Weapon Proficiency-

One Handed Weapons: 450

Two Handed Weapons: 250

Polearms: 190

Archery: 200

Crossbow: 98

Throwing: 600

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I found myself surprised with his information and wonder what would have happened if he had joined the Tetsujin and if he would become the first Assassination unit of the Tetsujin Empire.

These are thoughts for another time, now I have to focus on the young Lord and try to help him heal faster with the daily spins gained from Alice.

4 minutes later

Eriae: "Miis Aoi ho-, Wait Elder Dhedodvo? What are you doing here so far away from home?"

Dhedodvo: "Child, The Clan head told me to go and rescue you and bring you back home. Tell me honestly, how did you meet these people?"

Eriae: "Ha...ha, well you see. We were just attacked by an apostles apprentice it's nothing at all..."

Dhedodvo: "So it was just an Apostles Discipl- Huh? WAIT DID YOU JUST SAY APOSTLE'S DISCIPLE!?!?"

Eriae: "Yeah...but their Clan leader had taken care of the dark mage Adel easily! So don't you worry about my safety!"

I saw Dhedodvo stop himself as his entire posture changed into a dignified one with respect and seriousness.

Dhedodvo: "Clan Leader? Wait, why is the Clan leader doing here?"

Katsuyori: "We don't have to answer your questions, just know that you would have died if you were to continue asking questions"

Dhedodvo: "Fine, then if you would excuse us, we will be on our way then"

Eriae: "Wait! I can't go yet, not without repaying them for helping me escape!"

Dhedodvo: "Wh- Young miss, they seem to have a predicament on their hands with the large army West of here"

Eriae: "I still need to help Alexis in his condition!"

Before they could finish speaking Oda came over and looked at everyone with a disdainful look on his face as if asking for a beating.

Oda: "Oí! What are you people doing fighting here when there a scouting party in a 1 mile radius?"

Katsuyori: "They are here already? Then just as we agreed beforehand, is everyone in position Ol- Oda?"

Oda: "Oí! I heard you about to say Old man!"

Aoi: "That's enough you two, time for you both to fight and prove your ranking to me before I demote you both"

Both looked at me with a surprised expression but seeing me smiling they both shivered before they both walked out of camp with the remaining soldiers coming with them.

I recall having another Companion summoning card and the other units not being summoned just yet.

I looked within my inventory and saw cards with the companion summon, kanabo masters, Kizoku warriors, Yumi Kihei, Tetsujin shieldmen, Tetsujin Longbowmen, Tetsujin recruits, trained archers, Musako recruits.

I used all of them and a bright flashed everyone, surprising them before they got in a defensive position.

Coming out the other side of the woods came out a multitude of soldiers wearing shining metal armor and few with hardened leather armor.

There was 15x archers, 5x mounted Horse Archers, 33x Foot soldiers, 10x Shield Warriors, 3x Kanabo Masters, and in the very front was another Oni like myself with a long Naginata riding on an armored horse.

Aoi: "A large Champion Charger with the Ikigai Clan's Crest on it's sides and stature of a giant. So it is you who has appeared before us Yoshinobu"

Yoshinobu raised his hand to his face before taking off his red Oni mask and looked at me carefully.

Yoshinobu: "It truly is you, Lady Aoi! Nice to meet you once again, but it seems we both came back huh?"

Aoi: "It is nice to meet you again on such an occasion that is not on the battlefield"

I nodded before looking at Dhedodvo and telling him he can watch from afar and not bother us for the time being.

Dhedodvo: "Then we shall take our leave now"

After picking up both his downed subordinates he left the camp with Eriae and her bodyguards in tow. Once they left I told Yoshinobu a quick summary of our Lords condition and situation with fighting an army of 400.

Yoshinobu: "Our Lord is injured!? Who caused him to lose his limbs, I will make sure to behead them!"

Aoi: "Fret not, for our lord had an honorable duel with a powerful foe for someone on his current level yet he managed to win"

Yoshinobu: "Then, it was a direct order not to interfere right?"

Aoi: "Indeed, with the help of the one who brought us back, we were able to speed up the recovery of our Lord to a month"

Yoshinobu was surprised before he nodded firmly and his entire aura suddenly changed into a violent and bloodthirsty.

Yoshinobu: "We are our Lord's loyal retainers, so we must get rid of whatever endangers the young Lord's life..."

I nodded and looked at the biggest tent in the far back, with three kanabo masters guarding the outside and Hanzō protecting the lord inside.

Aoi: "Let us head out, Yoshinobu and achieve victory for our Lord. I need to get back to my old self again"

Yoshinobu grinned before he placed back his Oni mask on his face as he lead the troops he came with towards the position where the scouting party was.

I got on my purebred charger horse before following Yoshinobu who was moving quickly towards the Ambush.

Aoi: "Time for a festive slaughter to begin.."

Trained Footman POV

Trained Footman: "How the hell do I take this damn Centipede off my neck!"

As much as I struggled to try to pull the centipede off my neck it never budged so I stopped and just accepted it.

Seeing the weird looks that I got from everyone around me I payed no mind to them and accepted my fate.

Not long after, we saw the scouting party of the 400 army, there seems to be around 40 of them with the leaders being 3 knights in plate armor.

There was 36 infantry, 14 archers, and 10 medium armored soldiers on horses. Only thing I am worried about are the archers and Cavalry but I feel like something within me wants to break through a limiter so I might fight beyond what I can handle today.

???: "Are you ready?"

Seeing everyone nod, the kanabo Warrior told them to wait until the signal is given before charging in.

???: "KILL!!!"

Once the signal was given, all the foot soldiers hiding either behind a tree or ontop of the trees jumped down and charged straight at the scouting party from both sides.

As I charged forwards with my brothers, the black centipede had awakened and looked at the shocked troops in the middle with hostility as it hissed at them.

Hiss!

I raised my katana and roared out as I clashed with an infantry soldier before kicking him off balance but it was enough for me to swing down my katana and slash his head wide open.

I moved backwards avoiding a downward swing and before I could strike, the black centipede had lunged with it's pincers wide-open, into the enemy infantry's neck, before it closed it's pincers and the infantry's decapitated head fell down.

Feeling shocked, I didn't move until the Kanabo warrior shouted at me to focus, bringing me back and I forcefully put this scene at the back of my mind.

I took a deep breath before charging forwards and with the help of the vicious black centipede, I got close to the middle of their formation and spotted a fleeing Knight.

Seeing the infantry guarding the knights retreat, I chased with every slash bringing down an enemy soldier and the black centipede having lunged at incoming infantry who got too close and decapitated them or cut their bodies in half with my entire body covered in blood.

As I neared the knight, I had ducked and avoided a horizontal sword swing and I raised my katana to strike back but feeling a tremor in the ground I jumped backwards just in time to see countless earth spikes coming up from the ground.

The knight charged forwards with his sword raised and thought it down but I moved to the right and kicked him on his armored stomach staggering him.

I had swung down my katana over his armor and made a small dent but it bounced off making me annoyed.

CLANG!

The black centipede had lunged forward only for the knight to swing down his weapon and hit the centipedes head and bounce right off.

CLANG!

Kanabo Warrior: "Catch!"

???: "Wh-"

I raised my hand and grabbed the thrown kanabo before smacking the surprised knight as his armor had a bigger dent on his armor and he grunted in pain.

BAM!

I took a deep breath and focused to try to sync with the black centipedes attacks to which I slowly started to sync after every combined attack.

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

As the knight swung down his sword I raised my katana to block but the Knight had swiftly moved his sword from an overhead strike to a horizontal strike that cut my through my hardened leather and into my skin making me grit my teeth as I felt the entire pain.

BAM!

With the knights strike however, it gave the black centipede enough time to lunge and tore right through the knights armor and the knight roared out in pain.

With my remaining strength I gripped the kanabo tightly before swinging down on the roaring knights head as it dented the head armor and crushed the knights skull as he fell down with blood coming out of his helmet and torn torso.

I breathed in and out as the black centipede had slithered itself down from my neck to my waist and wrapped itself tightly covering my wound that kept bleeding.

I felt a slight cold touch and grunted in pain and after a minute or two the pain subsided somewhat surprising me with the centipedes ability.

Remembering the fight I turned around only to see a man in a red Oni mask, wearing similar armor to Aoi-dono who was fighting alongside the man and it was a spectacle to see.

With every swing the man did, enemy soldiers flew up in air only to be burned by the raging red flames of Katsuyori-dono's flaming spears as they tore through their leather armor or crude chain armor.

With the retreating soldiers they were either killed by arrows or chased down and mauled by the monsters Oda-sama tamed.

Seeing a few of the recruits die, filled me with regret of new troops to join the Tetsujin Army. As I walked towards the kanabo Warrior to give back his Kanabo I received respectful gazes from all making me embarrassed somewhat.

Seeing the Kanabo warrior who helped me I ran over and gave it back to him and thanked him for helping me.

Kanabo Warrior: "It is no problem, it is nice to see promising soldiers ready to fight for the young Lord and the Clan"

Trained Footman: "For the glory of the Tetsujin!"

As I spoke with the kanabo warrior, he had suddenly stopped and stood straight and salute, prompting me to turn around and salute quickly.

Kanabo Warrior: "I greet the Tetsujin Oni!"

Trained Footman: I greet the Tetsujin Oni!"

As everyone saluted and shouted their greeting, looking more closely at the man. He was a giant standing at 6'4 with the naginata being remade to be longer and reinforced to take on his blows.

Yoshinobu: "That was a wonderful fight to see from someone of your level! And your little friend here as well, what a vicious yet strong creature!"

I didn't know what to say except a thank you for the praise and feeling happy inside. It seems my happiness spread to the Centipede as it squirmed around my torso happily.

Aoi: "So it seems it has made a bond with you, just like Oda and his tamed beasts"

I nodded and suddenly I felt that "Limiter" within me lift and with Aoi-dono's words I felt like I had ascended into a new realm.

Aoi: "Then as you have reached enough strength, you will be upgraded into a Tetsujin Sword Warrior"

I felt my entire body light up in a golden glow and a qualitative change happened throughout my body and feeling the black centipede hiss out happily I smiled gentle accepting it as my companion now.

My entire body felt stronger, bigger, faster, smarter, and a sudden rush of strange techniques came into my mind and engraved themselves deep within my mind.

The black centipede had grown bigger than before and shed it's black scales and it now had an extra set of red eyes with the red crest on its head stretching backwards as it grew bigger before covering the centipedes head.

My armor changed from hardened leather into Tetsujin Plate armor and before I knew it, I was pulled into another world where the true might of the Tetsujin Empire was shown to me as I kept fighting for three years straight against massive empires or kingdoms.

With every battle we had, we would have won or lost with the amount of soldiers the enemy side had. I learned the true horrors of war with every battlefield as I saw my brothers die before my eyes and fought back with vigor I never had.

But with every battle it tempered my mind and body, helping me learn techniques of other soldiers who shared or helped those who fell behind.

We sieged castles, towns, forts, raided villages, and had witnessed the true might of an Oni and a High-Ranking Oni who saved our army from falling or rallied troops to defend our glorious Empire.

Having received 3 years worth of experience and true feeling of bloodshed, my body changed with the experience I gained in that time and I opened my eyes that showed wisdom and strength.

Yoshinobu: "This, is truly amazing. Who knew that such a thing can make the troops stronger to the level that of veterans..?"

I looked at Aoi-dono and Yoshinobu-dono before I greet them politely and kneeled down on both legs before talking with respect I've never had before.

Sword Warrior: *I've now learned why you have your name Oni and thank you for fighting for our glorious Tetsujin Empire with your all"

Hearing my words their expressions became stiff and both had looks of shock and reminiscent looks.

Yoshinobu: "...How was the empire..?"

Sword Warrior: "An Empire that never fell from it's grace as it continued to fight onwards"

I saw Yoshinobu-dono with tears sliding down his face and the Kanabo warrior tear up a bit before he spoke with happiness.

Kanabo warrior: "The Tetsujin Empire fought for years and took down a multitude of regions from Aserai while attacked by the Khuzate"

Aoi: "What regions did we take, how many towns, castles villages?"

Kanabo Warrior: "We took down Towns Lyakis, Qasira, Askar, and Sanala. Jamayeh Castle, Berihal Castle, and Medeni Castle. In total we took 17 villages even with numerous losses"

Yoshinobu: "Hah...hahaha, looks like we finally pushed those bastards out our lands. Looks like the Clan Leader finally managed to breakthrough"

Aoi: "Who is the...current Clan Leaders?"

Kanabo Warrior: "His name is Aruguren, he had rised through ranks and made every Lord follow his orders as he gained support"

Yoshinobu: "Aruguren...? No, has he achieved his goal after all? What did Hanzo do when Aruguren was to be the next Clan Leaders?"

Kanabo Warrior: "Although it's considered a rumor, it is said Clan Leader Hanzo had tested his willpower and ambition with five Trials and for the final trial was to beat him"

Yoshinobu: "Hah, to think that young commander grew up to be a strong fellow that leads the Clan now"

Aoi-dono had a surprised expression on her face and slowly smiled and sighed before looking at me seriously

Aoi: "With your performance of killing a high ranking enemy you will be promoted to an officer and lead your own squadron of soldiers"

Aoi: "With this, I shall give you a name and serve under my command from now on. You name will be Kuroi Mukade and your companion will be named Kuro"

Both of our bodies had changed suddenly into a better improved version along with our souls now having our names engraved deep within the depths of our souls.

Katsuyori: "I believe the main at will be coming here as soon as possible so I suggest to move to another spot and dwindle down their numbers or charge forwards at them?"

I raised my finger and stopped Yoshinobu from trying to say to fight onwards and looked at him sternly.

Aoi: "I don't want to lose more troops from a frontal assault. Control your Bloodthirsty and wait for my signal when you can let loose, especially since there's 3 interesting people you would like to fight"

Yoshinobu: "Tsk, always stopping my fun like always. Ill see if those 3 people are interesting before engaging in a fight"

I nodded and told everyone to go back into hiding to the Northeast and thinking on Odas plan I told the other half with Kuroi Mukade to stay afar and strike the enemy from behind after we start engaging against their army.

All: "Understood!"

Time to fight once more and be doned in blood from head to toe line always...

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To be Continued