"So, where are we going now?" Erza asked while still in the grip of the water hand.
They had been travelling for hours through the desolate areas, occasionally spotting animals fleeing from their path.
"We are going to Abyss Grip for now. We don't know whether our opponents know that we're not the only ones who have infiltrated. They have probably realized by now that you are a general from the border, so it won't be surprising if there was an order to report immediately when they spot any of the generals."
"Wait, what about the other two? And why are we going to Abyss Grip? Isn't that very far from here?" Erza hurriedly asked.
"They would most likely investigate Amber Wind first, which makes it difficult for the other two to escape the town. But I am confident in their ability to hide, as Ren's expertise in runes and such is pretty good. Anyway, I was told that we might find something interesting in Abyss Grip, so we might try to create chaos there. That way, the higher-ups' attention would go there, making it easier for the other two to leave Amber Wind."
"I see. Abyss Grip should be near the Spade Kingdom border. I wonder what we would find there."
"Anyway, I have transmitted the message about my plan to the other two. We will travel through the uninhabited areas, as that would decrease the chances of us getting found," Akeru stopped moving while the water hand dissipated into vapors.
"Uhh, do I have to move myself?" Erza, who was now comfortable not moving, groaned in frustration.
"You are not a baby who needs to be carried. Move your body," Akeru rolled his eyes as he kicked the ground, disappearing instantly from that position.
Erza did the same a moment later.
"You really need to learn how to treat a lady, boss, otherwise it would be very hard for you to get into a relationship."
Akeru rolled his eyes. "I don't think you give me an image of a lady."
"Really? What image do I give you then?" Erza didn't get angry but rather asked curiously.
"Hmm, I wonder about that too..." Akeru muttered.
---
They travelled for a few days, travelling during the day and resting during the night while Akeru added some arrays as defensive measures.
It was way more secure than what Akeru used to do back when he was living in a forest.
It was during the 4th day of their run that they encountered a knight.
He was an intermediate-level knight, standing under the shade of a big rock in the desert.
When he saw them, his hand immediately went towards a pouch on his waist however, before his hand could go inside, a water bullet tore through the atmosphere and made contact with his palm, shattering it.
"UGHH!" He groaned in pain, momentarily stunned, and didn't move from his position, which was a bad move as he got inside Akeru's mana zone.
Though, if he had tried to move before, then the bones of his legs would have been next to break.
The guy was restrained completely in the zone, and his expression was similar to a deer caught in headlights.
The atmosphere was silent with no sound present in the immediate surroundings.
"So, are you going to speak or do we need to torture you? Though he might look like an innocent child, the boss can be pretty brutal as he could break your bones while healing them continuously until you are mentally broken. Do you want to try that?" Erza was the one who broke the silence.
'What the fuck? Though I definitely could do that, I don't think I have ever done such brutal things before. How the fuck did she get such an idea?' Akeru was internally shocked at Erza's statement, but he didn't show it outwardly, which made the caught knight more terrified.
"I will speak, I will speak, please don't kill me!" The guy said in a panicked tone.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you," Akeru said in a reassuring voice.
"So, what is this device? Who are you going to contact? Tell me everything about your orders," Erza asked while taking out a device with multiple arrays engraved on it.
The guy somehow regained his composure and started speaking.
"My name is-"
"I fucking don't care about your name or who you are! Just answer the questions!" Erza's angry voice only terrified the guy, all the calm composure evaporating in an instant.
'She seems to have experience in this, as it would be wise for us to make him spill the beans when he is panicked, rather than when he is composed. That would reduce the chances of him bluffing or saying half-truths,' Akeru instantly saw through Erza's act.
However, one part of him wondered if it was really an act or not.
"That device is a communication device given to all the knights in order. We are tasked to not engage with all the individuals in the photos we are given and immediately send our position through the device once we see any of them."
"So, do you mean all these?" Erza asked while taking out some photos from his bag.
As Akeru had expected, it had the photos of all the top brass present on the border at which they clashed with the Diamond Kingdom.
"Yes," the guy meekly nodded.
"Who is on the other side of this device?"
"I think it's sent to headquarters, but I don't exactly know about that."
Erza hummed while passing the device to Akeru as he inspected it.
After a few seconds, the latter shook his head, indicating that he couldn't discern the details about the device other than the obvious facts.
'I guess the higher-ups here are smart after all. They want to reduce the casualties by not sending sheep to slaughter. I guess they will use Takuma to send Shining Generals to our location, though the question is who will they send?'
Thoughts clashed at a very high speed in Akeru's mind.
'Hmm, I don't know the identity of 3 of the new generation, and even spies of Clover Kingdom didn't have any information on the New Generation, including any information on Mars, so it must be highly guarded,' Akeru looked at the intermediate knight in front of him.
"Do you know the identity of all of the Eight Shining Generals?" Akeru decided to ask the individual present here.
"Not all, I only know information about 5 of them," the intermediate knight decided to tell everything he knew, including information on Ladros and Mars.
'As expected, he doesn't know it either, as our spy would have known about it. Though I wonder why he didn't mention Mars or Ladros in his report. I need to report this anomaly to the kingdom later,' Akeru made a mental note about being cautious towards the information he had on the kingdom.
Erza asked him a few more questions about what he was doing here and if he had any companions, while subtly cross-checking the information they had on the Diamond Kingdom.
Though she hadn't noticed the discrepancy, it was a normal practice to do.
"Does that mean that I could leave? I swear that I won't report this encounter to anybody," the guy said while making a pitiful face.
It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that he was terrified about this encounter.
Well, it was understandable, as he was just an intermediate knight.
BANG
A bullet was shot from Akeru's side.
The world slowed down for Akeru as he saw the bullet centimetres away from the guy's forehead.
Everybody present was still in Akeru's zone, so if he wanted to, he could obliterate the bullet instantly.
However, he didn't do anything as he watched.
The bullet tore through the knight's head, killing him on the spot; however, before he died, he was able to mutter some words.
"But, you told me that you wouldn't kill me..."
'Well, I did say that, and I didn't lie, as I wasn't the one who killed him,' Akeru thought while moving his head and staring at Erza.
The latter remained unfazed and stared back.
"Why did you kill him?" Akeru asked in a neutral tone, devoid of any emotions.
"I felt like it."
Both of them stared at each other again.
"Is that so?" Akeru asked, however, this time, his tone was cold.
***
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