Chapter 200: Overmatched and Underprepared (1/2)
”This was all a distraction? Really? You guys are investing a lot of resources into diverting my attention.” Mike questioned Wren as he ran towards the Tenundian encampment.
”Ah! I don't know why! The higher ups just thought it was a good idea. Watch out!” Wren screamed in panic while wriggling in his grasp.
Mike casually jumped over a group of entrenched soldiers with the aid of his Air Magic, and batted an arrow aside while looking down at the small woman he was carrying under one arm. ”Oh calm down. This is nothing.”
”Ugh! This is worse than riding a galloping horse.” The shaman complained. ”Urk! I think I'm going to throw up.”
”If you do, try to aim to your side. I really don't feel like cleaning vomit off of myself.” Mike replied with a sigh. He was starting to regret bringing her along.
”I'm sorry! I have problem with, urk, motion sickness.” The shaman had started turning a rather unusual shade of green.
With another sigh, Mike channeled a wave of healing magic through Wren.
”Huh? I feel better all of a sudden.”
”Anyway, what was that purple signal for?” He pressed.
”Purple? Hmm…” She frowned as deep in thought.
”Don't tell me you forgot…”
She started flailing again. ”I remember! I was just putting my thoughts in order. Purple means that at least one of the capture teams was successful, and that all forces not actively engaged in the assault should fall back to the camp.”
[Capture teams…they couldn't have, right? Surely they would have at least activated their beacons if they were in trouble.]
”When you say capture teams, who were their targets?”
Wren frowned again, before a look of realization passed her face, followed swiftly by anxiety. ”Um, there were a number of potential targets, but I think some of the highest priority targets were members of your party and your close friends.”
Mike grimaced, and increased his pace.
[Please be safe.]
”Ah! I'm sorry! Don't start running faster! Urk…”
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Jiri was forced to acknowledge that she had underestimated the Dragonknight's companions. By all accounts, they were mostly low ranking adventurers. As such, she had planned on subduing them without much difficulty. However, watching the dark-haired woman toss her soldiers around like they were playthings, she couldn't help but feel the bitterness of defeat.
Judging from her appearance, Jiri guess that the woman was likely the individual known as Liliana, an outcast member of the Dovistani royalty. While there had been some rumors of her being unusual, most of the dialogue focused on her strange obsession with Alchemy.
So, when the woman ripped a 10 meter tall tent pole out of the ground and started going on a rampage with it, Jiri found herself at a loss. While she had planned for the possibility of her captive being difficult to control, the majority of her schemes relied on key personnel to be available for it. Unfortunately, Liliana had broken free at the worst possible moment, right in the middle of her transfer to a more secure location.
As a result, there was little that could be done to stop the ongoing carnage. Jiri watched with mounting chagrin as the 'kidnapped' woman found a wagon in her way, and casually kicked it. The vehicle was sent flying nearly ten meters, before slammed into another tent with a massive crash, causing several soldiers to scatter as it collapsed.
Jiri sighed. This was not going well.
While she doubted the woman was a monster on the same level as the Dragonknight, it was clear that they needed more than just run of the mill soldiers to take her down. She yelled at a group of infantry standing around watching the confrontation, ”Go let the Marshal know what's going on. Tell him we'll need to redirect the strike team to this location.”
Wincing, she looked down at her twisted arm. Trying to block the tent pole, even though she'd done it by reflex, had proven to be a mistake. She tried to push the pain out of her mind as she surveyed her surroundings, taking stock of what manpower she had at her disposal.
With the exception of the basic soldiers, who were largely proving ineffectual, the only other resource she could depend upon was the team of Mage Hunters that had brought the woman in the first place. Unfortunately, two of them had been severely injured during the mission, while the rest had been caught in Liliana's initial attack, and were still dazedly getting back to their feet.
One of them was a thin bespectacled woman wearing the badge of a corporal. [Terra, I think her name was.]
”Corporal, do you have any non-lethal munitions left?” She asked.
Terra shook her head with a grimace, ”No. We were only issued one Stun Matrix due to shortages.”
Jiri silently curse the foolish finance ministers that had been redirecting military funds into a number of pet projects for the last few years, even in the face of the prospective invasion.
She decided that the time had come to cut her losses. While it would be far better to take the woman alive, and extract any information she had, it was quickly becoming apparent that they were outmatched. If they allowed her to continue her rampage through the heart of the Tenundian encampment, she would cause a serious amount of damage.