Ashborn Primordial

Chapter Ashborn 406: The Raid of Kartara (One) (Maiya)

Was war supposed to be this fun? What about a rebellion?

Those were the questions looping through Maiya’s mind as she fired a B Grade Razor Gale at her unsuspecting foes in the dead of the Saian night. B Grade was when spells started to impact more of an area, and the half-dozen blades of wind she fired ripped through her enemies like scissors through silk—their bit made even deadlier by the region’s biting cold.

She had to admit, it was good not to be the supreme commander, for once. With Riyan guiding the overall operation, Maiya was free to let loose and attack with her squad. That wasn’t to say she lost herself in battle, though. Maiya received continuous updates via communications orbs from several parties. She had a direct line to Riyan, her handmaiden squads around Kartara, and even one to Ira.

A small fortune in and of itself, to say nothing of the arsenal of orbs Maiya wielded.

The aftermath of her attack was… not pretty. Maiya turned away, her hands directing her squad onwards, eyes already set on her next targets.

A small voice in her head asked when she’d become this callous. Killing monsters was one thing, but people?

More worrisome was how small that voice was, and how quickly Maiya passed over her hesitation. Somewhere along the way, from the Children of Ash to becoming Ira’s chief operative, she’d grown used to the concept that life was fleeting. That her hands were soaked in blood that would never wash off.

She had no doubt her next reincarnation would be something awful. Perhaps the gods would even deny her that, yanking her from the great cycle.

Maiya didn’t dwell on matters that were beyond her. Instead, she gave an order.

She was the tip of the spear, so to speak. It was her duty to ensure Riyan’s lesser trained troops made it to the central palace. She was the trailblazer and the minesweeper. The leader of the advanced shock troopers who would pave the path for the insurgency. It was the most dangerous role… Maiya would not have it any other way.

Her handmaidens rushed off, and Maiya had no doubt in her mind they would accomplish what they set out to do. It was only a question of whether Maiya would get through her building first. A sort of friendly competition, so to speak.

Maiya’s handmaiden burst open the front door of the three-story building. Likely a brothel, by the decorations outside.

It had been evacuated, however. Maiya was very particular about minimizing the loss of innocent life. With much reluctance, she’d had Riyan announce the general timeframe of the attack. Secrecy was gone at this point, anyway. Saian authorities had caught onto the preparations days ago—an inevitability, considering the number of troops involved.

At least this way, Maiya could go all-out. She would kill, yes, but she would only kill those who took up arms against her. Perhaps hypocritical, but such was war.

The building, as it turned out, was not empty. Awaiting them were four Saian warriors, all pointing their polearms at the doorway like spikes.

Maiya rolled her eyes. The Saiyans had yet to field a single mejai… Though perhaps that was to be expected. They were still in the outer reach of the capital, after all. Better to concentrate their magic to protect the more vital parts of the city. They’d be more effective there, too.

Maiya nodded to her handmaiden to cast a B Grade Fireball that Maiya had precharged. Yes, precharged. Maiya had come a long way in her command of magic. It almost felt like her knowledge of Chakra and her becoming the Blessed Chosen had helped. She struggled with her prana manipulation less these days, and her growth came faster… Whenever she spared the time to work on it, anyway. Which was’t often enough.

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The handmaiden fired, engulfing all four warriors in flame. Maiya surged forth, skewering two with her katar while her handmaidens put the other two warriors out of their misery. The katar was a spur-of-the-moment decision on her part. Maybe she felt channeling some Vir energy would help her chances. Maybe she just really wanted to punch something.

Either way, she was as well-trained in the weapon as any other, and the quick, deft strikes suited her hybrid Kalari-Kin’jal style just fine.

Maiya moved forward, barely pausing after her kill. Her handmaidens followed. She checked her orb supply. While Maiya was now technically a Mejai of Realms who could charge B Grade orbs and utilize precharged A-Grade magic, she was still a Lesser Mejai of Realms. It took her some minutes to charge a single B-Grade. Hardly any time at all, normally. An eternity for a fight.

Luckily, she boasted the full resources of Princess Ira Kin’jal, which meant she carried no less than five A Grade orbs and a dozen B grades, as did her handmaidens. A fortune in any country.

The issue, however, wasn’t money. It was size. The higher tier orbs were around the size of a grapefruit. Too many of those, and Maiya’s mobility was severely limited. Even to carry five, she wore specialized holsters all around her body. Her handmaidens carried extras for her use.

Not that Maiya needed ten or even five A Grade orbs. Those spells wrought so much devastation that there would be little left of any building or road she targeted. Too much risk of friendly fire.

They were, however, exceedingly good at breaking down walls. Far better than any siege weapon. Maiya was saving those for the grand finale. She couldn’t wait to unleash all that firepower.

The very thought made her heart flutter as she tore down the dark hallway, illuminated only by the Magic Lamp orbs strapped to her body.

Maiya’s team of three cleared each room with mechanical efficiency, breaking down doors before searching the room, killing off any Saian Warriors, before moving on. Most were empty, filled only with lavish beds, red silk curtains, and all manner of strange contraptions that Maiya blushed to even guess the purpose of. Even when they did find an enemy, however, it took no more than a few tens of seconds to eliminate the opposition before moving on.

The second floor went much the same way, and it was only once they reached the third and highest floor that they met the heaviest resistance. It made sense—the views out the windows on the top floor were unquestionably superior. It was where she’d stage her forces.

I’d just have left a few dozen guards to ensure no one broke in, Maiya thought wryly, fully recognizing that was a privilege afforded to her by Ira’s wealth and resources.

She felt bad for her foes. Hamstrung with a demoralized, mediocre army, they would soon come to see just how mighty their foes could be. While Riyan’s insurgency lacked both the numbers and the rigorous training of Kin’jal, they did have Riyan’s expert leadership and a supremely unfair strategy; they were bypassing the core of Kartara’s defenses through its sewer systems.

The army on the surface was mostly just a diversion for those forces, to allow them to infiltrate without detection, and to draw away the bulk of the Saian forces so that, when Riyan’s rebels struck, the Saians would face enemies on two fronts.

Riyan had made it clear that victory was optional here—that the preservation of her forces was the top priority—yet Maiya had no intention of letting such details dampen her mood. She would break Kartara’s defenses, regardless. After all, existential threats tended to make for the best decoys. They couldn’t be ignored.

Maiya took the last room of the third floor just as her handmaidens burst onto the street, using magic and physical combat in perfect harmony to dispatch the soldiers in their way.

After clearing the building, she linked back up with the others, and they proceeded a block further, sending operatives into the buildings Maiya thought was dangerous before continuing.

It was a slow, arduous task, even with troops who made the task of breaking and entering look like an art. Not for the first time, Maiya wished she had Vir’s ability to sense lifeforms. While she did have a similar ability, hers only applied to the Children of Ash, and though she did have members of the cult seeded around the city, providing her information, infiltrating them into the Saian military was impossible. Even if she had years, she doubted she would’ve been able to manage it, let alone the months she’d had.

No, Maiya targeted only the biggest threats. Should any soldiers lurk in the smaller buildings, Riyan’s army would have to take them out on their own.

Maiya’s fears grew when only sporadic squads of Saian troops bothered to intercept her forces. Why weren’t they attacking? Surely, Saian command would have learned of Maiya’s attack by now? Were they truly in such disarray that they couldn’t muster a proper defense?

Maiya got her answer when, after what felt like an eternity, her handmaidens eventually made it to the outermost ring of internal walls. Riyan’s rebels followed not long after, backing her up.

And she would need every bit of it.

For manning the ramparts of Sai’s inner wall was a small army of archers, spearthrowers, mejai, and shield-bearing defenders.

Maiya looked up at the enemy’s forces… and grinned.

Well, I suppose the diversion worked…