Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

The onslaught of attacks pushed her back at first, but she managed to begin to hold her ground. At first, the speed and force surprised her, but after gathering her wits, she realized that speed was the main problem.

The actual impact of the hits was rough, but not difficult to manage. She was at the high end of the spectrum for Intermediate Rank and was pushing at the door to a breakthrough.

Whatever rank this boy was, it was enough to hold her off, but she could still win, as long as she kept her guard up. It was not impossible for her to still lose if she faltered.

"[Sword Arts: Heavy Slash]!" Mana wrapped around her blade as she made a powerful downward slash.

The attack missed it's target, but the force of the blow sent a wave of sand off into the distance. This closed off one area of attack since it was likely the enemy would avoid the cloud she had made, meaning she only had to defend three sides instead of four.

"[Sword Arts: Grand Slash]" This attack would send out a blade of energy that matched the shape of her swing.

There was no set target for her, but the arc of the swing would cover two more of the three sides, meaning the boy only had one more place to attack from.

However, when she turned to defend that space, no one was there. Her wolf ears twitched as she heard the whizzing of a blade cutting through air. Kalliope only just managed to bring her sword up to deflect the attack, but the impact was stronger than expected.

She rolled backward in the sand before coming back to a standing position. "[Beast Arts: Predator's Presence]"

Mana projected the sensation of a predator bearing down on the boy from behind him. It was a skill meant to momentarily distract someone to create an opening.

The only thing the Art did was bring a slight grin to the opponent's face.

"[Forsaken Arts: Weapon Breaker]"

"Shit! Forsaken Ar…"

Before Kalliope could finish her sentence, the boy launched at her again. She had no need to block his blows because he seemed to be purposefully targeting the sword in her hand.

It was all she could do to keep it from being knocked out of her grasp. In that moment, she had an idea. On the fifth swing from the boy, she let go of her grip. The sudden lack of resistance through the enemy off his rhythm.

Kalliope used this opportunity to reach for one of her hidden daggers. "[Dagger Arts: Pierce]!"

A mana infused dagger flew from her hand at the boy's head. He only barely managed to dodge the attack, having the weapon only graze his cheek, leaving behind a large cut.

"[Shield Arts: Double Bash]"

Not leaving the opening unexploited, Kalliope pressed her slight advantage and slammed into the enemy with the full force of her Shield Arts. He was staggered backwards as he was struck by a wave of mana in the shape of her shield, then a second time by her actual shield.

He looked upwards with fury in his eyes. "[Forsaken Arts: Sand Veil]"

She barely noticed his sword as it slashed into the sand, spraying it everywhere. Instead of following a natural path, the sand seemed to instead target Kalliope's eyes, ears, and mouth, drowning out her senses. She began to panic as she struggled to breathe.

Suddenly, she felt a hand grab around her throat, and the sensation of standing on the ground soon turned into a feeling of weightlessness. A moment later, the last of the air in her lungs escaped as she slammed flat onto her back.

"Lucius!"

She only barely registered that someone had called out the name of the boy she was supposed to look for. The boy who was now on top of her with his hand firmly pinning her in place glared at her with glowing, cat-like eyes. He had four sharpened canines and an extra set of fangs.

Just like the reports said, he was a half-blood. Lucius released his grip on her and began to walk away. Kalliope lay there for a moment before bringing herself to her feet with a heavy series of coughs. She touched her throat lightly and winced at the pain.

"That's going to leave a mark."

"[Tempestas: Lightning Bolt]"

The boy that was walking away from her casually flicked his wrist and sent a spell towards the gathering of wagons. All of the people that were in them seemed to have been gathered near her and Lucius' allies.

Still, the wagons and their supplies went up in flames and the sand underneath seemed to turn to glass. From what Kalliope knew, Lightning Bolt was a much less powerful version of Lightning Strike. The latter could only be used outside because it the attack came from the sky, where the former could be shot out of someone's hand.

The plan was to destroy the supplies anyway, so it wasn't like he did anything bad by taking that action. Something about it still irritated her though. Maybe it was the switch from the anger he had in the last part of the battle to a calm demeanor again? Kalliope had no idea.

"So, what will we do with them?" a woman wearing a dark cloak asked.

Kalliope found it odd she was wearing dark clothing in the desert, but it was far from her place to judge these humans. Of the other units they had run into, a simple glance alone was enough to determine that they were much more skilled at working together.

Though they shared the same feature as the other humans they ran into, they were all Marked Ones. There was the cloaked one, a monk, a warrior, a mage, and then the boy, Lucius.

The supply group coward behind the humans in some sort of weak effort to get away from Lucius, which Kalliope found odd. Something else she found odd was the presence that Lucius gave off. There was something strangely familiar about him.

No matter how she racked her brain, nothing seemed to click. Where is this feeling coming from…

"Kalliope, was it?" The cloaked woman approached her. "My name is Mia, and this is my unit. Thank you for cooperating with ending the altercation."

"It's no matter. I was told explicitly to get along with that boy with you." She answered.

Mia raised an eyebrow. "With Lucius? How do you know about him?"

"Your leadership warned us about him. I don't expect your return home to be a positive experience for him." Kalliope said. "However, my commander at Fort Sella ordered me to work with you if we found you. So, shall we continue hunting down these caravans?"

"I don't see the problem with that at all." Mia answered with a smile. "Having more beastmen on our side will help us ambush with more efficiency. We have been relying mostly on him, so the more the merrier."

"Sounds like a deal. One thing I will ask. My commander wants to meet him. So, if when our mission ends, or if we end up within a reasonable distance of the Eroan border, we will detour to Fort Sella." Kalliope requested.

Mia nodded in agreement. It seemed they were in agreement. The entire time, Kalliope kept sneaking glances at Lucius, but was unable to discern anything. His attention was simply focused on the horizon as if he was looking for something.

She reached her own senses out to see if she could pick anything up, but she felt nothing. After a quick conversation, they agreed to release the civilians and allow them to run free. If they survived the desert, then they kept their lives, if not… well natural selection took its place.

Lucius voted to simply kill them, but everyone dissented arguing that they should at least have a chance. He eventually relented and the argument was settled.

When night fell on the landscape, the heat changed to a deep chill that seeped into the bones. Everyone had prepared for such temperature differences and had a plentiful supply of gear to keep them warm at night.

There was no shrubbery nearby to use as kindling for a fire, but lighting one would be a bad idea anyway. Since there was not much out here, it would immediately reveal their positions to monsters and enemies alike.

They could run into another allied unit, but that was far less likely than simply exposing themselves to the enemy. Kalliope's rest that night was restless as she kept one eye open. She had no qualms with the humans, but Lucius was not someone she trusted. He caught her careful glances at him and met them with a sly smile, however he did not say anything.

"What a strange and terrifying boy."