Soul Caliber Ascension

The army trudged through thick mud and grime undeterred, the yellow glow from the moon casting on their armour making them look like an unstoppable tide.

Cypher looked through the lenses of his mask, skillfully playing with his golden knife that slipped between each of his fingers in a hypnotising motion. In his mind, he saw Rains perspective above the massive army slowly marching forward across clear grassland.

"So, thats the Deadlands?" Rains vision shifted to the distance, allowing Cypher to observe the eerie landscape.

In the distance was an endless conglomerate of rugged and massive jagged mountains that jutted out from the ground like knives that nearly touched the clouds. Their gray surface easily mistaken as snow unless one knew of it's true origin- An old battlefield of demigods.

"To transform a grassland into this...." Cyphers mouth curled, " How much power would you need to have?"

"Cypher," Orion flicked his masked head l," Stop daydreaming and help me," Orion looked down at a map of key attack points,"Which one should we go for first?"

'Cut off the enemies weapon supplies and they would eventually be left near handed, cut off their food- They'll eventually starve...but the real threat is the dreamweavers.' Cypher took the map displaying the targets and began thinking.

As he pondered, the ground crunched into white ash beneath his feet. The green vibrant grass replaced with flaky cracked ash.

Cypher laughed slyly beneath his mask, causing Orion to look at him with a troubled expression, "You... Dammit, what's got you giggling like that?"

The boy just stared down at the map, specifically at the large food convoy," Let them have their food," His Voice continued sarcastically ,"But shouldn't we add a little flavor to it?"

"Haha, your right!" Orion's eyes widened with understanding before collapsing again,"We don't have all any poison though, what could we use?"

"Why don't we just give them a refund?" The boy reached into his waist, pulling out a Vial ," Let them have a taste of their own product."

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Looking back on her horse, Clementine smiled lightly at the scene- Two giggling maniacs hunched over around a glowing container.

However, much to her dismay as she turned her head towards a forest of dead leafless trees in the distance, the feeling of being watched made her narrow her eyes.

"General," Clementines vision stretched deep into the forest, " We seem to have been noticed."

"Scouts?" The general turned his head towards the forest she was looking head but couldn't see anything, "It's to be expected Saint."

"Indeed," Clementine's gaze bore into a red clocked figure. Deep in the forest standing on a high tree branch, he met her gaze with equal ferocity. For a few seconds their silent stare off caused ripples through the army as barely contained power warped the air around them, causing the ash thatade up the ground to rise and levatate.

Beneath the red bellowing cloak, the figure smiled, mouthing a few words only she could decipher with her senses before vanishing.

The ash collapsed to the ground, signalling his true departure, much to the relief of the general.

"Who was it Saint?" He asked with concern, hand gripping the hilt of his sword instinctively.

Cypher and Orion also listened intently, having sensed the silent battle that had just been waged.

"An Archdemon of the Cult...this complicates things." She sighed, "He's a caliber 4 like me, a troublesome foe, " Her head turned to Cypher and Orion, " I'll deal with him when the time comes. This Archdemon seems to have been expecting me."

"Could a spy be in our ranks?" Orion asked.

"Possibly... however we still don't know if he was waiting for me specifically. It isn't unusual for my father to use saints in campaigns like this." Despite her words, she knew it was likely that some information had leaked.

The time for hunting spy's could wait however as a mountain came into view. Noticibly smaller than the rest but no less imposing as it's side was roughly hollowed out and mined. It's perimeter was surrounded by stone brick walls hastily frown together to form a simple defence. Even from this distance small figures could be seen rushing ontop of the walls, likely preparing for an enemy attack.

The Nova Kingdom had already set up a solid defence with their camp and soldiers defending all side's of the mountain.

Clemantine held her hand up, signalling the army to halt ,"Set up camp here! All soldiers will prepare for attack when nightfall begins "

Not even a moment later, tents were thrown up, with the entire army of the empire busy at work. The atmosphere was partly nervous while simultaneously excited for the bloodshed ahead.

However, Cypher stood in the centre of the makeshift camp as still as a statue. His eyes darted around with a calculating speed at seemingly nothing.

"Have you found them?" Orion sat on the ground and stroked the fur of his pet Tiger Tameil.

"Yes," He squinted his eyes ,"Behind the fortress mountain deep into the forest to the north."

"Dreamweavers?" The Beastmaster already expected the answer.

"Three..." He used his connection with Rain to scout above them ,"Their guarding a wagon down a trail. Only ten soldiers are accompanying them."

Cypher observed the Dreamweavers of the Kingdom intently, noting that their attire seemed to be similar to the church, wearing robes that had a Matt black colouring to contrast the churches white robes. Out of the three, one appeared to be much taller and leading the group ,"I can't tell without giving Rains location away, but it appears to be a caliber three leading the group?"

"That's the most likely case, "Orion stood up and grasped Cyphers shoulder ,"The Cult usually takes a rank three like me and pairs them with two lower ranked Weavers."

This simple structure had allowed them to have a solid combat effectiveness, with the higher ranked weaver taking out anyone who posed a threat to the rising stars of the cult while simultaneously allowing them to give the younger weavers combat experience.

" Congratulations Deacon, as a promotional gift from your colleague," Orion Held his chin up high, allowing the moonlight to shine down on him, giving the impression of a benevolent and selfless angel ,"You get to fight two Weavers at once!"

.....

"I'm grateful for your consideration....as a thank you, I shall pray to Lord Endo that you have a peaceful death in your sleep." Cypher smiled and unsheathed his dagger while holding oit his arm.

Caw!

A raven soon landed, nuzzling against its master.

"You! Damn, nevermind." The Beastmaster picked up his sword that was lodged in the ground "Let's head out before the army attacks. If we time it right they won't be able to send much reinforcement to the food Transport in the rear."

They had roughly 15 kilometers (9. 3 miles) to cover in under half an hour. For a Dreamweaver, especially a caliber 3 like Orion, this was a simple distance. The only difficult part was running into scouts watching the perimeter. Luckily, Rain was the perfect counter to avoid them, making their infiltration behind enemy lines an inevitable outcome if they did not face any unpredictable variables. Under the cover of the dead tree forest sorrounding the mountain fortress, this was even more so.

"Try to keep up Deacon Ren." Sparks of flames danced in the air around Orion, the ground beneath his feet cracking in unison as he prepared the sprint ,"Let's go Tameil".

His Dreambeast, hearing it's name also tensed its muscles and dug it's feet firmly into the ashy earth.

'I suppose I should join too,' Cypher mirrored their stances as he stared into the dark forest sorrounding the Mountain. Soldiers looked towards them and soluted as they prepared to leave

(A/N: Sorry I haven't updated. It's really difficult to write when I read back on my own work and don't like it. If you noticed anything abouty writing style that you don't like, please tell me so I can focus on improving it in my next chapter. Yours sincerely, RANDOM INDIVIDUAL.