The Martial Unity

Very swiftly he pumped the morale and the energy of the army to a decent degree. Soon enough, the order had been delivered and the army began dispersing. The general himself would not be taking part in the operation, he was far too old and losing him would likely be even more devastating than losing some Martial Apprentices. In the time that Rui had spent in the camp, it was very clear to see that Fushin played an important role in the Zurtun Rebel group. He was the core, in many ways.

Rui turned, looking at the old man as they left. He felt a chill run down his spine as he saw the man staring straight at him with a smile on his face. Rui had to take a moment, breathing deeply to compose himself. He steeled his heart as he forged on with the army. They were on foot because the horses would draw too much attention, furthermore, they were wearing sound-insulant footwear to reduce the amount of noise they made.

Rui's standard Martial Union uniform consisted of footwear that did the same thing to a higher degree. They soon reached the mountain summit, where four guards game into view. Yet before they could even process what was happening.

POW POW POW POW

All four of them were killed by the Martial Apprentices that scouted ahead.

The scout squad was supposed to eliminate the guards that were posted along the way to the fort. They did so just narrowly before the army came into their field of vision so that they could quickly be replaced by rebels of the rebel group who would pass off as the guards, even wearing the necessary armour and other attire.

The army quickly delved into the forest, keeping away from the standard path that led straight to the fort gates. They would easily be detected, they wanted the cover of the trees in the already dark night that would obfuscate their approach for as long as possible, as long as they didn't make any mistakes.

This part of the operation was slow and rigorous and truly tested the perseverance of the army. They would need to climb up a mountain carrying all the gear that they were carrying without making too much noise. They couldn't collectively pant or stomp their feet, they needed to be careful and soft while still exerting themselves significantly.

Hours passed, Rui casually strolled up while the men around him were doing their best to maintain their pace and ensure they didn't generate any noise. They breathed hard, trying to mitigate their exhaustion and fatigue.

Rui turned his gaze forward as he realized they were close to the boundary of inevitable detection. The scout Martial Apprentices signaled as much to the army, causing them to all stop as they passed on the signal to the people behind them in a wave until every last man knew it was time.

They all crouched, slowly pulling out a rejuvenation potion out of their pouches and inhaling it.

They each consumed rejuvenation potions, invigorating themselves. If they attacked in their current state, they would do so poorly that they would all die very quickly. Thus, the plan was to complete energize them so that they were all in peak condition. Even the Martial Apprentices consumed some potions. The only one who didn't bother was Rui. Slowly climbing up a portion of the way up a small mountain was a walk in the park for a Martial Squire.

Five minutes later, every single last soldier in the rebel army had consumed a potion.

The unit captains signaled the charge phase, and soon the entire army accelerated towards the fort that was clearly visible in the distance.

Rui sensed turmoil in the fort as seismic radiation originating from the fort had increased exponentially.

('They know and they're making haste.') Rui noted as he sharpened his senses, preparing for anything. Whatever the old man was hiding, would most likely be revealed within a short period of time. He kept an eye across all directions with his senses as they charged towards the fort.

The long-range units soon began firing explosive arrows towards the fort once they reached the necessary range. However, arrows rained back on them as well.

"SHIELDS!" The captains yelled.

Soon each soldier raised their shield above them as they continued running. They managed to mostly get away unscathed but there were some who had been hit by the small explosions in unshielded areas, causing them to fall.

Rui ignored the arrows entirely as he paid attention to the fort with Seismic Mapping, gaining reasonably sharp view of what was going on inside.

('There it is.') Rui concluded. As both Seismic Mapping and Primordial Instinct told him about the weapon. Rui could feel the sheer amount of energy packed in the cannon. If he got hit by a round from that, he would not get away unscathed or with minor wounds. If not for its significant strategic inconvenience in these particular circumstances, they would have gotten utter annihilated by the weapon in their previous encounters. It had a strong Squire-level sense of threat in his mind, his subconscious sense of danger evaluated it as a threat.

"PENETRATION SQUAD GO!" The captain yelled once they reached the fort walls.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The offensive Martial Apprentices immediately fired away attacks rapidly with flawless coordination as they together made huge a huge crater that only grew bigger by the second.

Rui focused on his target, which was making its way to the fort wall.

('Now!') Rui shot up, launching himself above the wall in an instant as he flew a great distance inside, straight towards the canon.

Yet just before he reached it, he froze, before leaping away.

BOOM!!

A massive crater formed where he had been standing just prior.

Time slowed down profusely as Rui's senses were in overdrive as his awareness hit unprecedented peaks, trying to comprehend the situation he was in.

Yet, the answer was self-evident.

Rui could feel it in his bones.

At the center of the crater was a single silhouette behind the dust.

STEP STEP STEP

The figure walked out nonchalantly despite time being almost frozen in Rui's perception. Whoever this was, it was someone who existed in the same realm of cognition as Rui himself.

And the inevitable soon followed, confirming what he already knew with sheer instinct.

A squire-level aura descended upon the entire area as the very air froze, growing taut. The war itself creaked to a halt as the aura bathed the battlefield, inspiring fear in all those it graced.

Not a single person was unsurprised.