Chapter 315: The eyes of a soldier
"It’s time," a soldier said to Nero, who had been sitting in a chair with his eyes closed, meditating.
Nero’s eyes flashed open, filled with vigor. He nodded to the soldier and stood up, stretching the muscles in his body as he did.
He had not been cultivating. Rather, he had been resting his mind and allowing himself to return to his peak state so that he was in his best condition for the upcoming excursion.
They had already planned as much as possible, and he had already discussed their formation with his teammates, informing them of how they would proceed.
Despite their need for urgency, they would take a steady approach, traveling step by step. The greater the rush, the more they had to be calm and collected in their actions. Perilith was not a place where they could casually strut about.
Nero grabbed his Neo series glaive and stepped out to the sight of his eleven teammates, standing perfectly in formation, ready to head out. To be specific, they were standing in two groups. Vanessa, Dave, Bael and Noman were standing together, while the 7 others who had suffered from the abstract curse were standing together.
While they would obviously support one another in actual combat, Nero decided it was best to split them up. This wasn’t because he was looking down on the 7 soldiers. Rather, it was because the seven of them would fight in a very regimented manner, following Nero’s orders, while the others would fight based on the situation.
No words were exchanged as everyone fell in line behind Nero and looked towards the eastern horizon. It was dark, but the darkness was already waning as the sun came closer to rising.
The instant it was safe, and the darkness within the Perilith realm was set to retreat, a soldier standing by the tavern door moved aside.
That was the signal, and all the Neophyte teams began to move, falling in a step behind Nero’s team.
The walk into the tavern was familiar now. Every creak of the wooden flooring, every moan from the dying old structure, had a place in their memories, almost like an anthem, solemnly played as they marched off to their mission. They could only hope that they would hear the cries of the wooden boards again when they returned. At that time, it would no longer be an anthem, but a melodious celebration of their successful return.
Nero was the first to step into Perilith, and though the area surrounding the tavern had always been safe, he still took a moment to survey his surroundings.
The tavern stood on a sloping, verdant hill, and though the specific vegetation around the tavern seemed to have changed since the last time Nero was here, it was still covered in lush green bushes, tall grass and wildflowers.
The horizon on the east was painted in light blue turning into a pinkish orange, turning deeper as the sun began to rise, with the occasional cloud on an otherwise clear sky. A gentle breeze was blowing, causing the leaves and grass to dance as if to celebrate the arrival of a new day.
It was entirely peaceful, yet everyone knew that peace was merely a facade worn by Perilith. This place was a hunting ground, and there was no telling whether they would be predators or prey.
Once he was sure everything was safe, Nero moved forward, allowing space for the others to come out behind him.
Each team knew their mission, and most of them were going to different locations, so they split up right outside the tavern, with only a few of them accompanying one another for the first part of their journey.
"Dave, I need you to be at your best today," said Nero before they set off as well. "Detecting dangers before they strike is going to be critical in responding to it."
"I will," Dave responded, his voice deep with the weight of his duty. Or maybe it was something else weighing him down.
"Let’s move," Nero said, and began leading them to their destination. Despite their limited time today, and the urgency of their task, Nero did not rush. They moved at their regular pace, which in itself was already a great risk, considering they specifically were targeting the most dangerous spots that had been identified.
The more critical the situation, the more clearheaded and steady they needed to be in their actions.
It seemed like luck was on their side that day, for they jogged through the hill for nearly an hour without encountering any real obstacles. They spotted many beasts and cursed creatures, but they were all far away, or easy enough to circumnavigate, allowing them to make great progress.
But such a streak of good luck was bound to finish, and just as they neared their first destination, Dave pointed out a threat in the distance.
It was a pack of wild dogs who spotted Nero’s group at the exact same time as Dave pointed them out, and attacked without hesitation. The dogs were tall enough to reach Nero’s waist, with thick black coats and large white wings on their backs, allowing them to take flight the moment they attacked. The additional speed from their flight meant that the group had mere seconds before the fight began.
"Defensive formation," Nero commanded as he fell in line with the 7 soldiers, allowing Bael and the rest to handle their own response. This was all part of the plan that had been discussed prior to entering Perilith.
The seven soldiers immediately shed all their lethargy as they heard Nero’s instructions, and raised their weapons and activated their abilities. That’s all the time they had before the pack was on them.
Around 18 dogs fell upon the team like comets from the sky, yet surprisingly, the impact from their initial attack was negligible. Like a well-oiled machine, the seven soldiers acted perfectly, defending from the attack by erecting a layer of protection from their abilities and cards, before relying on their physical shields. They covered the gaps in their formation perfectly, supporting one another and covering each other’s weaknesses with their shields.
More importantly, there was not a shred of impatience within their actions. They did not leap to attack the enemies as soon as they were rebuffed, or try to take advantage of their lost momentum. They stuck to their orders and simply focused on defense, transforming into a veritable impenetrable wall!
Nero showed no impatience either, and did not hasten to change his orders. For the first time since he became a Neophyte, he saw an opening for an attack in his enemies’ defenses but did not strike!
It took one and a half seconds before the pack recovered and tried to attack again, an entire eternity on the battlefield, he did not waver in his decision. He stood shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers he was leading, and prepared to face another attack. He did not have to wait long.
Now much closer, the pack attacked again. Though their subsequent assault lacked the strength of their initial strike, they made up for it by increasing the speed of their attacks. The group was surrounded, attacked from all sides as well as from up above, yet they did not stumble.
Instead, they responded calmly and smoothly, each of their actions almost mechanical in nature. Once, one of them almost lost his footing, but Nero pressed his own body against his back, providing him with the support needed to maintain his balance.
To an observer it might have seemed like they were moments away from disaster. A single flaw, a single mistake was all it would take for their defense to break. The truth, however, was that by supporting one another, and focusing solely on defense, they had more than enough leverage to make mistakes. After all, if they made a mistake, then their brother or sister and arms could cover for them.
Of course, this was not an active sentiment. In the midst of battle, they had no room for unnecessary thoughts. Instead, the sentiment was expressed in the absolute trust they gave one another, focusing solely on obeying their orders.
Maybe one could argue that the seven soldiers, due to their condition, simply lacked the ability to feel such things, and blindly obeyed orders without so much as a shred of additional thought. Nero didn’t think so. At the very least, even if they did lack the ability for such thought, then at least he alone would still have those sentiments, for he had placed his trust in them to obey his orders without fault, not just to the best of their abilities, but to the degree and standard that the situation called for.
As the dogs attacked, their bodies stronger, their aether thicker than anything a Neophyte leveled beast should have, the soldiers showed not a single sign of faltering.
Then the second opening in their defense was revealed. After consistently attacking them again and again , the dogs had actually accumulated multiple wounds all over their bodies - mostly due to the momentum of their own attacks.
Under the influence of their accumulating injuries, the speed of their attacks finally slowed. It was a subtle difference, one that could only be felt by those who were mired within the flow of battle. But it was exactly the kind of thing Nero had been waiting for.
"Offensive formation! Strike the pack first, leave the leader for last!" Nero yelled as he dove forward without the slightest hesitation.
By leaving the defensive line first, he exposed himself to an attack, yet he focused only on his target. There was a dog that tried to take advantage of the opening, leaping to bite at Nero’s jugular.
But the opening was just bait, for Nero was not alone. Before the dog could reach Nero’s neck, it felt a spear stab through its own!
A steady hand gripped that spear, already pulling it back to attack the next target, the previously vacant eyes of its master now filled with a predatory gaze, like an eagle that had spotted its prey.
But perhaps even eagles lacked such ferocity in their eyes when they struck. The only real comparison that could be made was that those previously deadpan eyes were now like that... of a Kolari soldier.