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The Vice Admiral's and the princess' parties soon reached the outskirts of the nearby city. She and Sir Rufus agreed it was best to set up camp there while they continued with their objective. She had explained to her men prior about the 'complications' of the witch's marks and while they were mostly willing to make the most of the situation, they still couldn't help but feel uneasy about the mostly unknown threat. Leila entered the tent with the princess' guards alone to have a private meeting on their next course of action. Her troops were ordered to keep a lookout in the meantime. Hopefully she would hear something that would prove useful to their current situation.

"I'd like to apologize again for the misdirection Vice Admiral."

"These men knew the dangers of having to escort a VIP in this war zone. All of them were prepared to face this kind of danger and I'm sure none of them will hold it against you. I'd be disappointed if they did."

"In a way I was hoping this would also be in favor of your mission."

"What do you mean?"

"I was informed that defeating and putting an end to the witch was part of your orders. Being marked by her should give you that opportunity."

This was an interesting development. From the way Sir Rufus was speaking, he was implying that there would be a high chance of encountering the witch personally on this mission. And much of that was thanks to certain member of her troops being marked. So far none have come forward yet confirming that they were. She had also been waiting for the mark to appear on her palm but it had yet to show up. based on previous experience shared by Sir Rufus, it should appear anytime now. She would have to check again after this meeting.

"There are three reasons why she would appear personally. First, Princess Lulu is here with us. Second, individuals marked by her curse are also with us. And third, we are very close to the Witch's territory."

That last part caught Leila off guard. The witch was in Abfall? That wasn't in any of the reports. Not to mention it almost sounded like the princess herself was also being used as bait.

"I don't mean any disrespect, but what else have you not been telling us Sir Rufus? All these surprises and new information are making it difficult for us to properly prepare. I know I said we were willing to do whatever it takes, but it's kind of unfair not to share everything from the start. You really don't trust us much huh?"

The old man stayed silent and bowed his head apologetically. Leila could have sworn the Government had good relations with these people, but this lack of trust was concerning. Before they could continue the discussion however, there was a loud howl heard from the distance, causing the old butler to be alarmed. His reaction caused the Vice Admiral to be on guard too.

"They've found us! The mark must have already appeared on someone!"

Leila perked up as she heard the howl and the old butler's affirmation that they had company. As she stormed out of the tent to prepare to greet their visitors, she quickly took off the gloves she wore to check if she had been marked but was a but bummed to find her hands were clean. Putting her gloves back on, she wondered if that was because she didn't actually kill any goblins. That meant one or more of her men were marked instead. The least she could do for the unlucky, or perhaps she should say lucky guys, was to watch their backs and make sure they don't bite the dust. Following right after her, Sir Rufus had this serious expression on his face but also one seemed like he was waiting or hoping for something. She had seen that face of desperation a few times before. Well, as long as he didn't do anything too crazy she would let it slide, but he really should tell them in advance of the kind of danger he was exposing them too.

Making it back to where her troops were assembled, she saw that one of them had already taken charge of lining the men up and getting ready for the impending attack. If she was not mistaken, this was the new face named Todd. She didn't know much about his background, but for this mission she specifically requested for brave and trustworthy Marines. He must be pretty good to be recommended by the base. He had his rifle ready as did most of the troops. This would be her first chance at seeing how good of a shot they all were as the short scuffle back at the ship was more close range than anything. Now they had the luxury of taking out enemies incoming from a distance.

"Good call! I like a man who takes action quickly! Let's mop them up nicely!"

As she approached the Marine formation, the Vice Admiral activated her haki to try and get a clearer picture of what they were dealing with. Behind the camp was the abandoned city so it would be a little difficult to launch an attack from there. If these were really wolves like the howls suggest, they'd prefer a more open space where they can make use of their mobility. That left the front of the camp which was facing the rocky wasteland they traversed on the way here. There were a few odd rocks here and there providing minimal cover but the rest was sandy or flat. It was great for anyone thinking of charging in. True enough, her haki picked up on their blood lust coming from the front, and their raiders soon came into view.

About 150 meters out front in the wasteland and coming in fast were wolves, running at T3 to T4 speeds. They weren't your ordinary wolves, being at least twice as big as normal. They were slightly smaller than ponies but were more heavily built, or so she thought. Their stocky appearance was due to the fact that they seemed to be armored. Each armored wolf also had a goblin rider, also clad in protective gear. It was hard to tell from a distance, but the goblins were likely wearing iron stuff while the wolves were clad in steel. They weren't wearing completely full sets. The goblins had helmets, chest plates, and bracers on there forearms and legs. Their upper arms were still exposed, as were their feet. Their helmets had visors but if you were a really lucky shot, you could probably try aiming for the holes. Or just have a really good iron piercing gun. The more troubling threat was the wolves. Steel plates guarded the front of their legs and their heads. It would be hard to aim for their vitals from afar at the speed they were coming at. Maybe if they got closer it would be doable. The goblin riders were armed with slingshots and would start shooting when they reached the 50-60 meter mark. There were 10 all in all for this first wave of assault. Leila wondered if there were more waiting somewhere.

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That was some nice shooting. Admittedly Leila didn't come prepared with a gun of her own. But considering the goblin riders were equipped with slingshots that was probably a hug oversight on her part. She was more used to just picking up whatever mother nature offered and making do with that. She liked to keep her hands free if she could help it. Going back to the battle at hand, Todd managed to dismount at least 6 of the goblins on his own. It was hard to say if they were dead or not but they weren't moving. Surprisingly despite losing their riders, the wolves didn't slow down much at all. Well they almost did, but with a quick whistle from the remaining goblins, the riderless wolves got back into position and continued their charge. Actually without the weight on their backs, they ran even faster ahead of the pack. This confused the Marine troops because the wolves were coming in first, but the riders were armed with long range weapons. They sort of panicked who to prioritize.

"I can't have just you guys doing all the work. After all, I'm here for the same duty. Focus on dealing with the riders. I'll keep those big wolves off your backs."

The Vice Admiral moved to the side of the formation where she had a clear view of the incoming threats without getting in the way of the troops' lines of sight. As ordered, they ignored the wolves that were running ahead and focused on the riders whom they opened fire at the moment they crossed the 100 meter mark. They were not as accurate as the marksman Todd, as she saw their bullets hit the goblins in the chest and arm areas and only few managed direct hits to their heads. But there were a lot of them and they used their numbers to make up for the lack of precision. The hail of bullets was more than enough to unseat 2 more goblins, leaving just one more pair of riders still on their wolf mounts. They were sporting moderate to serious injuries though from the Marine barrage and couldn't quite make use of their slingshots from the pain.

Meanwhile the 6 riderless wolves finally made to the 20-30 meter mark. Leila was ready for them. She raised her right arm, which immediately transformed into a large monstrous limb that was totally disproportionate to the rest of her body but the size of which didn't hinder her one bit. This would be the first time most of the people there would get a glimpse of her abilities, though it was probably impossible to tell what kind of creature possessed a spiny porcupine-like arm. With a single swipe, she launched 5 quills from her arm with with incredible precision, piercing the incoming wolves right through the gaps of their armor. Though judging from how deep they pierced and the force of the swing of Leila's arm, the quills would have probably penetrated through the steel plates themselves. The 5 that were struck were down for the count.

The 6th one, seeing what happened to its pack mates, charged at the Vice Admiral head-on as if to take revenge. As it pounced forward to try and take a bite out of her, she caught it right at the neck with her large monster arm, lifting it up one-handed with hardly any effort. As the large wolf struggled and choked from her grasp, she then crushed its throat with her powerful grip, killing it instantly as the force snapped the wolf's neck entirely. To be honest she didn't expect the creature to be that weak so she was a little surprised it died so easily.

They weren't out of the woods yet as the last 2 riders were still heading their way, along with 2 riderless wolves running close by.

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Even as she dealt with the armored wolves, she kept an eye out for how her men were doing as she did promise to watch their backs. Dealing with the goblins didn't seem much of a problem as the last two were finally shot down as well, but it terms of the firepower they were packing, the wolves with their steel plates was a different story. They unleashed another volley of bullets from their rifles, getting a couple of lucky shots in the gaps of the wolves' armor, drawing blood, but it wasn't enough to keep them down. The rest of the bullets merely dented or otherwise bounced off the metal plates. The Vice Admiral understood the men weren't really at fault as their equipment was just insufficient. Their shooting was quite respectable throughout the battle thus far.

The problem now was dealing with the armored wolves still coming their way. A few of the men judged that they wouldn't be able to reload in time before the wolves got close enough to maul them so they immediately looked to the Vice Admiral who nodded, acknowledging that they could change tactics and head for cover. By this time it was only Leila who was out in the open, serving as the big fat distraction to the angry wolves. She had not yet let go of the wolf she killed with her transformed arm and was waving its huge body around to draw the attention of its vicious pack mates. She realized from their behavior earlier that even without the goblins to direct them, they still knew the meaning of working as a team and avenging their fallen and so her flaunting of her kill was very effective in getting them to go after her.

There were 4 wolves left in total and they immediately got into a formation surrounding the Vice Admiral, snarling. The Marine troops hiding in the rocks nearby could only watch. If any of them tried shooting now, they would only ruin Leila's efforts to draw the beasts' attention as their weapons were useless against their armor. If only they had more power. In any case, that meant Leila had to take care of this on her own.

Two of the wolves broke off from their formation and attacked her simultaneously from two sides. Sensing their movements and intent, Leila jumped up and smashed the dead wolf she was holding like a makeshift weapon right on the skull of the wolf coming from her left, killing it. The second wolf tried to use this as an opening to attack her with her back turned but the Vice Admiral was too quick and already saw this coming. After crushing the first wolf, she swung the dead wolf around again like a club and smacked the second wolf away, knocking it into a rock close by to where a few of the Marines were hiding. This time it wasn't quite a fatal blow as the wolf was still breathing. But it suffered from multiple broken bones and probably couldn't get up on its own anymore. If any of the Marines dared, they could walk over to it and finish it off. They just had to be careful in case in tried to snap its jaws at them out of desperation.

The last two wolves, seeing their comrades go down let out a loud howl. It was at this point that Leila was glad she kept her haki active in case of additional forces. There were 5, no 10 riders coming from the southwest of the camp. That was the direction being guarded by Sir Rufus and his men. She wasn't sure how good they were but that was no reason to take it easy. She had to finish up quickly here. Still using the dead wolf as a weapon, she rushed at the nearest one of the still surviving wolves, catching it off guard with her speed. She swung her 'weapon' around, again sending the armored beast flying into the nearby rocks, knocking it out. The last wolf, acknowledging the difference in strength between itself and the Vice Admiral, cautiously stepped back before turning around and running away... in the direction where the reinforcements were coming from.

"Ah, damn it!"

At this rate, the princess' guard would have to deal with an assault from their front and one at the back. That wasn't good. Leila finally dropped the dead wolf she was clutching and ran after the fleeing wolf, hopefully catching up to it before it can cause mayhem where Sir Rufus and his men were gathered. The rest of the Marines were free to follow, but most would stay to check and finish off the wolves that were knocked out, making sure they were really dead.

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The wolf was moving fast, but not fast enough that the Vice Admiral wasn't eventually able to catch up. It didn't escape her notice that one of her men tried to follow. It wasn't hard. He had to be running pretty fast to chase after her and that wasn't something you could do quietly. He wasn't bad to be able to keep up with her initial run, but to take out the wolf before it could do anyone harm, she had to go a bit faster to cut it off. As the vicious beast closed on on Sir Rufus's party, Leila sped up and leaped forward, her transformed arm raised and ready to strike. She landed right on top of the wolf's head, smashing her fist into its skull while also stabbing with quills on her arm for good measure. The creature skidded on the ground lifeless at that moment. From where she killed the wolf, she was about a stone's throw away from her allies, some of whom caught sight of the beast and were surprised by her prompt arrival and assistance. The Marine who followed her stopped and took cover somewhere, which was weird, but that wasn't really her problem right now. The enemy was coming.

Sir Rufus had his men positioned in a formation very much similar to her troops on the other side of the camp and their weapons were also of the same quality. But having the same kind of weapons meant that against the armor of the incoming wolves, they would similarly prove to be ineffective. Unlike earlier when they were testing the waters for how strong the enemy was, this time there was no point in wasting bullets unnecessarily. It would be more efficient to hit the raiders with something that could harm them for sure.

"Vice Admiral, we appreciate that you could join us! I see you've already taken care of the other side?"

Leila sighed, indicating that she had yet to make peace with his questionable actions, but this was neither the time not place for a quarrel.

"Put away your weapons Sir Rufus. This isn't an enemy that can be dealt with using mere rifles. Though they don't really pose any real challenge to me. I'm far more interested in hearing the rest of the story from you rather than play with them, so allow me to end this raid here and now."

The old man could take a hint and silently signaled his men to stand down. Meanwhile, Leila proceeded to position herself ahead of them to meet the marauders up front, standing about 3 meters from her allies. The goblin riders were still a good distance away at about a hundred or so meters, but little did they know, they were already within the Vice Admiral's kill range. She raised her transformed arm and unleashed a storm of quills in a cone at the incoming enemies. There was no time at all for the raiders to dodge or change direction as the attack was coming in too fast for them to even perceive. They were wiped out nearly instantly before they could even reach the 90 meter mark. The area where they were struck down was full of quills that looked like black grass from a distance. Sir Rufus and his men were awestruck by the display of power. They could barely perceive her attack either but it was hard to miss hundreds if not thousands of quills being fired in a span of a few seconds. Though all they could see was a dark mass and none of the individual quills at all.

With her haki, Leila confirmed that all hostile presences were gone for now. This was a brief battle but was merely the beginning of things to come. Now that they were cursed, the enemy was bound to send more forces after them. She was eager to know more about the curse and would insist on her patrons giving her the full story while they took a break and regrouped.

[End]

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