BXBX NOVEL Chapter 166: Black Lands
That\'s what they call the closest landmass to Azure Terra, only separated by the Great Wall. They call it that due to the sheer corruption that has tainted, what used to be vast and fertile, land black.
This place is crawling with demons of all shapes and sizes. With the absence of the sun, they are extremely powerful here. The lands have been converted into their home, giving them the advantage and even more strength.
It wouldn\'t be wrong to say that every inch of land outside was harmful and an enemy to humans. That\'s why only a select few people could go out here safely.
About 500 miles away from the Eastern Gate of the Great Wall, perpendicular and to the left, a light suddenly blossomed. Then, came a group of 20 young men and women, feeling a bit shaken by the sudden transfer.
These were none other than the Squad #1. They just got transported from the other side of the wall to here to do their mission.
Despite having a glimpse of what\'s truly on the other side of the wall, it wasn\'t enough to prepare them for the real thing.
The air was foul, the land was like a quagmire dragging and slowing them down, the visibility of their surroundings was shit, and the density of corruption makes them feel greatly uncomfortable.
Some of them felt fear gripping their hearts. Panic was slowly tightening its grasp on them, causing them to see visions and experience psychosis. The resolve that they tried to build up before coming here was slowly crumbling.
...and all of this happened within the first minute of their arrival here.
The entire squad seems to be experiencing this except for one person. And thankfully, that person was their leader - Cedric.
Seeing the state of his group, Cedric could only inwardly sigh. As much as he wanted to scold them for dropping their guard, he really couldn\'t. He\'s the weird one here, not them.
He flourished his sword and got into a stance. With a snort, he released a pulse of Ki filled with his vigor and unbending willpower.
When his Ki swept to his teammates, the corruption\'s hold on them disappeared. They suddenly found clarity returning to them.
This wasn\'t its only effect though...
The pulse of his Ki didn\'t go very far, it went for about 50 meters or so before dissipating into nothingness, but in that tiny distance, it was uncontested.
Corruption screeched and sizzled when Cedric\'s Ki touched them as if they were burned by fire. It weakened the corruption by a smudge in the grand scheme of things but it was more than enough to save the people who were spiraling down to the endless abyss of fear and uncertainty.
This...was a fairly common martial art called: Ki Pulse. It was not difficult to learn but making it effective on a real battlefield was an entirely different story. Still, this wasn\'t limited to Ki. It could also be done using other forms of energy, so long as one\'s intent was pure and they have a firm grasp of its concept, they could use this art.
"I won\'t blame you for what just happened. This is the first time anyway. But I\'d very much appreciate it if that were to be the last. I can\'t always save your butts out here. Get a hold of yourself. I taught you the Ki Pulse for a reason." Cedric stated to his squad who were still catching their breaths.
Once they\'re sufficiently calm. Cedric told them to be in a formation. Judging by how swiftly they moved and accomplished their orders, Cedric could tell that they were fine now.
"#5, what\'s our mission objective?" Cedric asked.
"Sir! We are to patrol and document everything we see within 100 kilometers away from the wall, Sir!" #5 vigorously replied.
"Good, you still remember what we\'re here for." Cedric calmly replied, "I divided tasks amongst us, tell me the responsibilities I gave you. Start!"
One by one, his squad reported the duties he gave to them before they were sent away by Silverwing. He tasked people to look out for any possible threats, some people to document, and others to watch their backs.
As for Cedric himself, he\'s their core here and he will oversee the entire group. His field of senses was completely unfolded here. He knows everything happening within 10,000 cubic miles (length, width, and height), and this was with his senses being heavily suppressed.
The Starlight Royal Academy was around 60,000 square miles, it\'s just as big as the Capital City of Fiore - a metropolis. If Cedric were to completely unfold his senses to any of these places, pretty much nothing could happen without him knowing.
Of course, Cedric couldn\'t do this at all times. At most, he could do surveillance for about 4 hours, even with his recent breakthrough, and no more than that. Even with his absurd senses and ability to multitask, there are way too many things to pay attention to.
This isn\'t limited to sight, oh no...it\'s all of them; sight, hearing, smell, taste, feel, and a bit of intuition recently. As awesome as this sounds, it has its downsides too.
What feels bad to others, feels horrible to him. The stench of corruption, the disgusting murky sensation of the ground, the gruesome sight of the ravaged and corrupted lands, everything was amplified (not enhanced) to Cedric. So it wasn\'t all positive.
The fact that his brain could process this all was nothing short of a miracle.
But if he were to, say, minimize this for about... 1000 miles for example, then he\'d have no trouble keeping it up at all times. There are still too many things to pay attention to but it\'s more bearable this way.
Still, it doesn\'t change the fact that his senses are truly ridiculous and it\'s still growing.
This was the entire reason why he\'s keeping a low profile.
And even though he\'s heavily suppressed out here, Cedric guessed that it\'s mostly because of the corruption, the distance his senses could cover was still greater than the surveillance his team combined could manage.
Hell, he could even see other squads not too far from them. He could see that they were dealing with the initial panic that his squadmates felt earlier.
Truly, the evolved senses of a Sage thanks to the foundation laid by the Eyes of the Godking were truly immensely overpowered. That\'s why Cedric had to always be on guard.
\'We\'d have to be here for 8 hours, I should limit my field of senses to 5,000 miles. That should be good enough to prevent any surprises.\' Cedric mused to himself as he heard his squad finishing their reports.
"Alright. Since you can recall your duties, it means that you\'re back to reality. We will begin moving soon. Whenever you feel that the corruption\'s getting to you, don\'t hesitate to do Ki Pulse."
"Remember what I told you. Demons only use Demonic Corruption and Infernal Energy. They don\'t understand and disdain energy forms that we, humans, use. So don\'t worry about alerting them."
"Sir, yes Sir!" His squad replied to him.
"Good. Let\'s move. Keep up the formation, go!"
And just like that, Squad #1 began their patrol...
Cedric was at the helm of the formation, flanked by two people. Behind them were the ladies who were tasked to write down as much detail as they could see. He tasked them to write their own observations so that they could compare notes after the mission was over. Of course, Cedric also had mental notes to add to their observations.
Guarding them were the fairly sensitive boys. Their task is to be on the lookout for any possible threats. Anything they see that so much as twitch the wrong way, they were supposed to report to alert the team.
Right behind these boys were the rest whose task it was to watch over their entire formation. Every five minutes, they have to do a headcount to make sure that everybody\'s still around and hasn\'t left the formation.
The dark, depressing, and corruption-filled lands of their surroundings could cause hallucinations and visions, as they have experienced before, therefor their task is paramount to ensure that everybody returns to the other side of the wall intact and alive.
Of course, everybody was primed for combat. They all have their weapons out and are ready to slay if they are attacked.
They are to keep this formation for their entire patrol. The only times it will change is when Cedric orders them to and the changes will vary depending on their encounters.
Cedric instilled every formation in their bodies to the point that they would react even before thinking as soon as he gave out orders.
"Heads up, I see a pack of Imps 100 meters away from us. They burrowed and are starting the hunt, it seems that they have noticed us."
One of the scanners reported to the team.
Cedric could feel everybody tensing up so he cleared his throat and said:
"Maintain the formation and prepare for battle. Eliminate them with extreme prejudice. Am I clear?"
"Sir, yes Sir!"
And just like that, Squad #1 prepared themselves for their first battle outside the walls.