"Your Highness," said the General who held this portion of the border with a polite bow and a nervous expression, "Our scouts have confirmed your suspicions. Three small army divisions have been found. All of them well hidden from normal vision and deliberately within areas where we patrol lightly."
Jessica frowned as she studied the horizon. Her mind churning violently as she considered the situation.
Mirellia had been honest. As expected. Her information was another sign of how much more through her network was. Jessica's nascent network couldn't compete. The problem was that there was no way that she had done so for the sake of Melromarc. There would be a plot running underneath this and Malty could see a lot of benefits to forcing Jessica into focusing on the border.
She turned to face the worried General, "Composition and Numbers," she said.
"They have a barrier set up," he admitted, "Our scouts only learned that they have approximately 500 demi-humans in each army group by sensing their mana. Four of our scouting teams have yet to report back."
Jessica sighed and altered the Cane, switching it to a form that let her cast illusions. A thought and she pulled on her Cartography Skill, an image of the nearby territory emerged between her and the General. "Point out their locations," she commanded, "and show me the areas that the teams that have not reported back from went to."
He frowned before tapping the areas, jerking back when the points he touched began to glow a deep red. The General turned to her, surprise and awe written on his face before he turned back to the map. Jessica's frown deepened when she saw that the army groups were quite close...close enough that she should be able to feel them if they had a barrier up. Her Soul Sight was limited in range, but most of her other senses had an incredible range. If they had invested energy in a barrier to guard them, then she should have been able to feel them.
Jessica frowned after he was done, saved the map into her Cartographers Skill database, and changed form again to the form of obtained from a bird of prey that could see mana. It allowed her access to Mana Sight and passively permitted her to boost her eyesight to absurd degrees. It was terrible when it came to seeing mundane objects, and so useless in battle, but allowed her to see, analyze and study mana based constructs from incredible ranges. She had not used it because she hadn't wanted to give up her normal sight when she'd been concerned about an ambush, but there was little choice left.
Plus, the General and his forces were weak. She wouldn't need her eyes to incinerate them if they served Mirellia.
The wall she was standing on and the paltry defences it had stood out like a beacon. It made it difficult to study the equipment that her soldiers wore, but a bit of focus granted her enough control to see them. A moment passed and she refocused on the horizon and drifted upwards with some aerokinesis. Not a spell, just infusing the air with her mana and controlling it, trading a bit of control for greater flexibility.
The General called after her, but she ignored him and darted upwards. Her line of sight expanded rapidly and the many monsters in the area, some of her scouts and even the many traps set up by her forces became obvious.
She still couldn't see any trace of the three armies. They might have been hidden from conventional sight, but this was not supposed to be possible. Jessica changed her skill, drawing on Thermal Vision, Sonic Sight and Spatial Sphere. All of them were different, using Light, Sound and awareness of Space itself to allow her to see things.
All failed to show her anything.
Jessica glanced at the General. Betrayal was a possibility. It could be that there were no armies and that this was a distraction. Perhaps Mirellia was marching on the capital or assaulting it while she squandered her time here. The Cane Hero was tempted to teleport back to the capital. Or at least reinforce the border a little. It was decent at the moment for people
Only the possibility of Siltvelt being able to hide entire armies from her specifically stopped her.
She compelled the air to push her downwards and dropped swiftly. In the space of a second, she slammed onto the top of the fortress a short distance from the General.
"They are hidden from me," she said, her tone icy, her Soul Sight at full blast, "I'll check their position after mustering some reinforcements."
The man nodded seriously. No trace of deceit.
Her heart sank as she realized that Q'ten Lo was likely to be involved. Only they had the magic needed to defy the powers of a Hero but not that of a mundane scout. It wasn't something she'd even be able to guess at without her metaknowledge.
Was this Mirellia's trap?
Jessica vanished with teleportation and appeared in her well-guarded teleportation rooms. The defences recognizing her within a second. Her senses expanded rapidly and she was soon aware of the entire city. Relieved beyond words that her powers were still working and that her city wasn't under assault, Jessica nodded at her guards and sent a wind whisper to Raphtalia, Motoyasu, Itsuki, Cromwell and her captains.
It would seem that it was time to go to war with one of the only enemies who could give her pause.
She hoped that her assumptions were wrong.
Then, she froze. There was one more option.
The Claw Hero might have some tricks up his sleeve. Who knew what powers his weapon had offered him. Would it be wise to bring Motoyasu, Gaelion or Itsuki with her? Their loss would be a terrible blow.
Jessica sped up, her mind weighing the possible consequences.
She didn't have a moment to waste.
"I can see them, Malty," confirmed Raphtalia as they floated high in the air under Jessica's power, "There are five different sites and there is a complex illusion barrier. I think they would probably work better if I was closer. From this distance, it's easy to see through it."
Unsurprising. The barrier would depend on mana reaching its victims. They could have projected mana widely, but that would cost an insane amount of power. No temporary camp could afford that setup easily.
Jessica nodded, "Excellent work," she said with a smile, keeping most of her focus on the areas that Raphtalia had pointed out. They were nearly two kilometres up in the air, but there was no way to know what sort of scouting ability they had. Jessica also didn't know the personality of their commander. Would they retreat or fight upon discovery?
Raphtalia nodded, carefully didn't look down on the air they seemed to stand on, and said, "Something is creating that barrier in the centre of the camp. I can't tell exactly, but it's some pink looking thing with a lot of guards around it."
The Cane Hero frowned. That it was visible from this distance did not bode well. She suspected that it was a large sample of Sakura Lumina, the mysterious plant-thing from Q'ten Lo that had some link to their esoteric powers. Her memory wasn't perfect, but she remembered the ability suppression of the Sakura Stone barriers well. There were also some weapons that were immune to Hero weapons, and even an ability that multiplied the stats of people by taking them from other people.
Still, what surprised Jessica the most was that Q'ten Lo was so eagerly taking part in this war. She had expected deviations from the story she had read, but this was too much. Their isolationist policies and conflicts with Siltvelt should have kept them out of the war.
The mastermind, whose name she couldn't even remember, because of how dull a villain she had been, must have had some reason to bother. You don't give away your secret weapons that cripple the God worshipped by your ally for the fun of it. The average citizen of Siltvelt would be furious to know that they had a way to cripple the Shield Hero, though she was certain that the rulers would be glad to have a way to negate his power.
It didn't matter at this moment, but she'd have to get Sadeena from Zeltoble and get Raphtalia ready. Clearly, Q'ten Lo couldn't be left alone. Not when it had been suspected in the story that the mastermind had been related to Medea.
The war to come had changed from a distraction to her key problem.
"What can you tell me about their forces?" she asked, annoyance flaring at being unable to verify Raphtalia's words. Jessica trusted Raphtalia. The girl had passed every test, but dependence on another was galling.
"There aren't that many," said Raphtalia, squinting as she studied the enemy forces, "Around...100 or so. No, closer to 150. They're settled down. A small earthen wall is around them and they set a lot of tents up."
"You're certain?" asked Jessica, thinking of the report her scouts had provided.
The demi-human nodded firmly.
Illusions to inflate their numbers. It had to be. Raphtalia's skill with illusion was such that she could passively see through even the illusions her Cane set up. Whatever these fools had set up clearly didn't hinder the senses of someone who wasn't a Hero.
That confirmed her suspicions. This would be best tackled with the assumptions that Heroes would be completely crippled by the barriers and that the boosts they provided would be removed inside it. That barrier had to go. Direct combat would be foolish at best if these people had the special boosts that Q'ten Lo had access to.
"Malty?" said Raphtalia after a long minute of silence.
"Motoyasu, Itsuki and I are unlikely to be useful here," admitted Jessica, realizing how much she had depended on herself and the two Heroes. Q'ten Lo was a terrible adversary to have, and their alliance with Siltvelt was troubling. "I'm fairly certain that they can cripple any Hero and even negate the enhancements we provide."
Raphtalia looked stunned, but the surprise faded quickly. She nodded, a determined expression manifesting, "We'll deal with it," she promised, "You've taught us a lot and you've got your Knights here. We'll make sure that they don't trouble you."
Loyalty. It was intoxicating.
Jessica had to crush the heady feeling and hold on to cold logic, "No need," she said with a gentle smile as they drifted back towards the border fortress, "Direct combat would be unwise...and I have a lot of ideas. You'll play a part, but it won't come down to a fight unless everything goes wrong."
The barrier couldn't be impervious. They still had to breathe, which meant that air would get through, and she could remove it. It would be harder without direct control of the air, but not impossible.
Her magic would fail inside the barrier. They would likely cripple her in a direct fight or have weapons that were super-effective against her. They were the anti-thesis to any Hero.
Jessica would make those limits meant nothing.
And if all her plans failed, despite her best efforts. She'd draw on Gaelion. The Dragon was already at a fairly high level. He'd be a wonderful ace to use here. He wouldn't be happy about it, but the Dragon knew that his choices were limited.
A good test for obedience, if nothing else. Earlier than she would have preferred, but since she couldn't use the Heroes, he was her best shot.