Rebirth of the Phoenix God

Chapter 171: Provocation

"It's hard to believe all of that, you do realise that?"

It seemed that his mission wouldn't be as stupidly easy to turn it actually hard as Fen was worried it would be for a moment. If that man was willing to take his word for everything, then they would only end up wasting the time. Because ultimately, the person that stands above this particular officer that Fen meet, would never agree to rely on a spoken testimony alone when it came to deciding the strategy for an entire, damned war!

"You are free to go there if you want. But not with me. It's not like you need me or anything. If you couldn't find the road and follow it without my guidance, then even my help wouldn't account to much."

Not was the right moment to back off. With the Shallian border in relative proximity, Fen could disappear in the innards of the kingdom. Given how even on a horse, reaching through the destroyed road all the way to the construction site of Kinarian fort would take a while, as long as the young man could free himself from the scrutiny of the soldiers the next phase of the plan could be enacted.

And with how the next part of the plan was about all the mercenaries retreating from the scenes where the fighting would soon start, leaving the place right now was Fen's priority.

"Yes, I wouldn't have the heart of asking you to guide us. Hans, Otto! You will escort this poor man to the border. Make sure his needs are taken care off. We can't afford our important witness"

Stopping his words for a moment, the officer of the unit threw a long glance at the miraculously saved brethren of his. With the glitters of doubt pretty visible in his eyes, Fen instantly understood what was the point of assigning him some people to escort.

More than for his safety, the officer commanded it for the sake of the safety of his vocal witness instead!

In simpler words, it didn't matter to him whether Fen would die on his way to the border or not. What he cared about, was Fen repeating everything that he said so far to the officer's superior!

"Thank you, sir, thank you!"

Falling down on his knees, Fen instantly started to praise the man while oozing out delicate whines allegedly caused by his injuries. Even now, the young general couldn't afford to relax his act even for the tiniest bit!

"Okay then, everyone, follow me!"

From this point on, the rest of the situation happened rather quickly. With the main part of the unit departing south, directly through the still burning area of the road, Fen's two guardians helped him on a spare horse before slowly riding to the north.

'I wonder how they will like what they will see'

Right now, Fen had two options that he had to decide between. Either kill both of his guardians and just escape the place, using the fact that he was basically in the middle of the unofficial no-man's-land. 

As simple as this solution sounded, it still had its drawbacks. From how the officer would be bound to notice that both he, and the two of his retainers went missing on the borderland, all the way to what kind of questions this occurrence would force on his mind.

On the other hand, Fen still could just keep up with the current situation, repeat his words to the higher officer back on the Shallian side of the border and hopefully just walk away from the camp before using his wings to return.

Overall, the main difference between the two possibilities laid in the amount of time that Fen would have to waste. Additionally, by visiting the camp of Shallians, the young mercenary could also scout out how prepared the Shallia was for the coming war. 

But that didn't make it the better choice by any means. As great as it would be to visit the camp of the Shallian army and scout its situation, it would also mean stepping right in the middle of a lion's den. From the strangely dangerous look that the officer threw at Fen before departing, the young man didn't dare to assume that he would be left to walk away freely after giving his testimony.

"So the bloody option that is. I guess they will blame it either on Kinarians or the nobles"

Speaking out loud without any reservation, Fen allowed his catalyst to manifest as soon as his hips raised above the saddle of the horse. Before either of the soldiers could react in any way, the young mercenary was already gripping the handle of his fire sword with his fingers, jumping from his horse towards the closest opponent.

Using his wings to add even more momentum to his approach, Fen managed to catch the enemy off-guard, sinking the blade of his sword right through the armour, ribs and then the heart of his enemy.

Unable to do anything but watch as his comrade was killed on the spot, Fen could see the sparks of courage appearing in the eyes of the other soldier Only for them to disappear in the next moment, as he leaned over the neck of his horse and by digging his heels in the sides of his mount, attempt to escape his demise. Given how rapidly Fen's skin was regenerating from its previously sustained wounds now that he allowed the fire to freely flow through his body, it was no wonder why the young soldier opted to attempt to escape instead of clashing with the mercenary.

"As if I could allow you to leave just like that"

The notion of killing the other soldier didn't fill Fen's soul with pride or happiness. At this moment, even his bloodlust subsidised, not daring to influence Fen's mind at all. 

But it didn't change the fact that he still had to kill the man.

Shaking his head in disappointment over what he became, Fen started running. At first, his wings combed up behind his back as to not drag his momentum back. Once he was quick enough, as strange as it might sound with the silhouette of the enemy already disappearing in the distance, Fen suddenly jumped forward.

In fact, it would be more accurate to say that he leapt forward. But instead of simply spreading his wings and trying to catch the wind to gain some height before finally moving on to the correct aerial manoeuvres that would allow him to catch up to the runaway soldier, Fen just spread his wing out.

And then, right as the upward drive of his leap stalled, his wings started burning. 

Instantly accelerating forward at a pace that felt as if it would push his eyes deeper into his brain, Fen had to actually slow down right after that. In this short burst of speed, he already managed to pass above the running away soldier, actually reaching the point where he could see the first Shallian city that guarded the King's part of the road.

"Deim"

Stalling the rest of his momentum with a sharp twist of his wings, Fen turned around. At this point, from how the bels of the city started to manically ring, it was obvious that the people in the city noticed his appearance. 

But there was no need for worrying. Even though this wasn't a part of Fen's plan, it couldn't be said to be a bad thing in general. 

After all, Fen's aim was to start the hostilities between the two powers that would end up with the road connecting them being not only unusable for trade but mutually locked by both countries. 

And what would be the better hate-inspiring event that forcing the entire city to watch how an arcanist, allegedly from Kinar, would execute the escaping soldier?

'I'm kinda risking it'

Eyeballing the nearby city, Fen was perfectly aware that it could house potentially dangerous arcanist beyond the level of what he could deal with. But no matter how strong they would be, it would be almost impossible for them to reach his position before he would do what he set himself to do.

Casting his gaze downwards, towards the earth, Fen could see the soldier frantically glued to his horse's neck speeding up even more now that the city entered his sights. Given the short distance, he could even hear the cheers from the city wall of his brethren. 

And then, Fen vanished his catalyst for a moment. 

Instead of angling his wings while fighting back against the wind pressure, the young man simply allowed the air to pass through his wings, before materialising them again in the position that he wanted them to be at. 

Dropping down from the skies like a stone, the young arcanist quickly fixed his trajectory by once again calling forth for his catalyst, levelling his flight to be parallel to the road. And with the wide-open back of the soldier trying to speed up his horse at an arms' reach, Fen simply flew by the unfortunate victim, slashing his body along with the neck of his horse in one, simple cut.

But that wasn't the end of the scene.

Instead of slowing down and turning around before he would reach the area of the city, Fen actually speed up!

Landing only when the gate of the fortress already started to rapidly grow in his eyes. Fen glid down on the stones of the road to lose the rest of his momentum, before standing sideways right in front of the gate for a short moment.

In this one instant, his lips turned upwards as he left off a simple smirk, aimed at the defences of the city.

And then, he pulled his wings all the way down to push against the mass of earth and kick himself away from the city in case there was someone capable of taking him on within its walls.