--


    "Report, Squad #3 entered the surveince field." One of the scanners reported.


    "Keep the pace. We will meet them in person soon." Cedric replied to which his team affirmatively replied.


    After their brief rest (not really), they continued on their patrol route as usual. Everybody''s still wary about potential attacks so they proceeded with caution.


    Considering that they''re not even proper cadets, they are pretty far from the walls. Even with theirbined strength, there are a lot of enemies around these parts that could kill them within seconds if they''re not being careful. This was not an exaggeration. After all, the team personally saw those things themselves.


    After a few minutes, someone alerted the rest that Squad #3 entered their line of sight, and that turned out to the be case.


    Cedric of course saw them already before anybody could. He did even before they took a break.


    What he saw did not impress him though. Squad #3 is in a dire state.


    "Leader, they are..." #5 muttered softly to him.


    "Mn, I see it." Cedric replied, wearing a serious expression.


    It''s clear Squad #3 had an ident. They were missing two people already, and the rest had this harrowed expression on their faces.


    Cedric saw Isabe, the leader of this squad, and despite her stoic expression beneath her veil, it was clear that she too was in a terrible state.


    It didn''t take long before members of the Squad #3 saw them. The way they informed each other and how their eyes brightened upon seeing them didn''t escape his sight, nor his team.


    "H-Hey, it''s you guys—...!! What!"


    Whatever that person had to say died in his throat when he saw how Squad #1 entered abat formation and appeared hostile against them.


    "Hey! Hey! What''s this!"


    "Stop! We''re not enemies!"


    "Shit! Could it be that they''re imposters?"


    "What do we do? We can''t lose people anymore!"


    "We''re gonna die! We''re gonna die!"


    Squad #1 grimaced as they saw how easily Squad #3 crumbled. They couldn''t help but be shocked but also disappointed at this sight.


    Where''s the order? Why so hopeless? It''s understandable for them to feel depressed because they lost people, even though they would feel the same, but losing all sense of order isn''t wise in an environment like this.


    More importantly...what''s their leader doing?


    "Why turn hostile all of a sudden? I don''t believe we''ve done anything to warrant this." Isabe finally stepped forward to say, only after her team made a ruckus.


    "Squad #3, if that''s what you are...this is Squad #1''s Interim Squad Leader speaking." Cedric stated with a vigorous and authoritative tone. "I demand an exnation for your Squad not following the protocol upon the intersection of our route."


    The energy of his voice and the sheer density of authority behind it greatly intimidated the other squad. It didn''t help that his words greatly resonated with his team members as well. There''s no doubt if he told them to kill their fellow Cadets, they won''t hesitate to do so even if it means killing their own and being traumatized about itter.


    "I shall give you 1 minute to exin, fail to do so and we will see you as a threat like the Demons, and you shall be eliminated with extreme prejudice."


    Cedric red his killing intent which was enough to douse the entirety of Squad #3 in fear. The rest of his team also ring their killing intent didn''t help either.


    As much as Cedric wanted to tease Isabe for showing a colorful expression beneath her veil, because she usually doesn''t do that, this was a serious situation.


    It''s times like this that everybody is reminded how big the gap is between Cedric and the rest of their batch. The sheer density of power emanating from him outssed any they could musterbined. Even Isabe nched at the sheer immensity of the threat they were facing.


    Despite this, her mind worked. Cursing under her breath and being very careful to not show any signs of hostile action, she informed her team on what to do to de-escte this situation.


    Under Squad #1''s watch, the other squad arranged themselves neatly in a formation with Isabe at the helm. She cleared her throat before whistling a tune and making gestures using her hands.


    Nobody aside from Cedric could understand this, and that''s within reason because this way ofmunication should only be known and used by Squad Leaders.


    Once she finished, Cedric replied in kind using the same method. The atmosphere remained tense but they could also feel it toning down.


    "Interim Squad Leader #3 apologizes for our misconduct. We faced an ident and are quite shaken about it. Forgive us for forgetting order and not following protocol."


    A tense silence passed as Cedric carefully measured every single one of them with his eyes.


    "At ease, team." He ordered.


    Squad #3 saw how #1''s team smoothly and unquestioningly obeyed his orders like they were born to do so.


    "We will this pass only because you proved your identity. Make no mistake, I will be watching you." Cedric coldly stated.


    A few members of the other squad sighed in relief while the rest wore ugly faces. It was obvious that they were not okay with how Squad #1 tantly threatened their lives.


    How is that okay? What kind of protocol forces cadets like them to kill each other?


    Their thoughts didn''t escape Cedric''s senses of course, but he does not care what they think. They are Cadets and they shall follow orders. in and simple.


    "Approach." Cedricmanded.


    Squad #1 began moving. Squad #3 saw how clean their formation was and how smoothly they operated. Others were fooled because all of Squad #1 was rxed and they didn''t disy any kind of hostility since there was no reason to, but others were not that easily fooled.


    Every single member of #1''s squad was primed and ready to respond to any threats that would ur. They will not hesitate to bury all of Squad #3 if they so much as twitch the wrong way.


    "We shall do the same." Isabe ordered her team.


    They too went on a formation but it was awkward. Even the weakest member of Squad #1 could point out several holes in their formation, they''re even more ring because they''recking members.


    However, even if they could see it, none of them said a thing. It was unnecessary anyway. Unless they were given explicit orders to do so, they will remain silent.


    What follows after this should be an intersection. The Squad Leaders will exchange information briefly and go about their way. It''s as simple as that since they have other responsibilities to attend to.


    Before crossing routes, Cedric stepped forward after ordering his team to remain in formation. Isabe did the same, but it is now clear to everybody that she does not haveplete obedience and authority over her squad.


    "You''re missing members. Talk to me, what happened?" Cedric asked her, starting the information exchange.


    "Terriblending." She replied, "We were attacked as soon as the transmission was over. The corruption was too much and we were too slow to get into formation."


    "You didn''t teach them Ki Pulse?" Cedric asked with a raised brow.


    "I did, but we''re too pressed for time. Only two learned it and they''re dead." She stated with a t tone but Cedric could tell that she was shaken about it.


    The slight quiver in her tone might not be noticed by others but not him. His ears are too sharp and she''s too close for him to miss that.


    "Tough luck, then." Cedric replied, choosing to not sound empathetic because she did not need it.


    "My team didn''t experience a terriblending but we had a close shave with a Capra Demon." He told her.


    Isabe''s eyes widened in disbelief beneath her veil.


    "Fortunately, we made it out alive. I sensed the thing before it got to us, so we used stealth. I reported the sighting to Captain Silverwing so they should be informed of it."


    "Howe you''re still here if you did that?" She asked.


    "It''s a report, not an SOS." Cedric deadpanned at her. Inwardly chuckling at the way she blushed in embarrassment for making that mistake.


    "Right, sorry. I''m a bit frazzled." She admitted.


    "I know." Cedric uttered. "If it weren''t for the fact that you proved your identity, I would''ve thought you were a Demon because of how you reek of corruption."


    Isabe looked at him in rm, seemingly asking if he was kidding. However, she saw Cedric''s deadpan expression and silence, convincing her that she was not.


    She then saw him turn to his team and barked: "Pulse, now."


    Swoosh!


    Every single one of Squad #1''s members, including Cedric himself, performed Ki Pulse.


    20 pulses of pure and unwavering Ki swept through their surroundings and onto the members of Squad #3. That amount was more than enough topletely cleanse the hold of corruption to every human in the vicinity.


    Isabe herself felt some kind of invisible burden leaving her body, causing her to involuntarily sigh in relief. That''s when she truly realized that he was indeed not lying when he said that she reeked of corruption.


    But before she could say anything, she saw Cedric returning to his squad and saying:


    "Formation A! Eliminate with extreme prejudice!"