Chapter 333 - 86: Magical Beast Meat
Chapter 333: Chapter 86: Magical Beast Meat
"Keep advancing! Remember the previous orders: don’t touch the flames. If a magical beast charges, let it pass..."
While Robson and Huang Na were in the forest chasing Everton, Ais led the troops forward, continuing to follow Robson’s strategy.
By now, Robson’s plan had largely come to fruition. The entire area was engulfed in a raging inferno.
It would have been one thing if this were ordinary fire, but this was Huang Na’s Phoenix Fire. Even as a secondary blaze, its power was not to be underestimated.
This was why Robson had ordered his Soldiers not to get near the flames or attack any magical beast that was on fire.
After all, Huang Na’s flames couldn’t distinguish between friend and foe.
Any creature with a modicum of intelligence, when faced with fire, would instinctively run toward water. With human Soldiers also sealing the forest’s perimeter, the magical beasts had no choice but to flee toward the lake.
Ais, Claude, and the other Officers Robson had left behind led the army as they slowly tightened the encirclement.
An unknown amount of time passed, and the horizon began to glow.
Just then, the various legions finally converged.
The encirclement was entering its final stage. Ais could even hear the distant wails of various magical beasts.
Evidently, the magical beasts had realized their predicament and were beginning to show submission to the human army.
Magical beasts were, after all, a cut above ordinary animals in intelligence. Furthermore, since intelligent races had a history of capturing and taming them, magical beasts had developed a habit of feigning submission when they couldn’t win.
Unfortunately for them, this human army was here for their meat.
Ais looked at the army behind him, issuing commands through the nearby Banner Soldiers and horns. He directed the advance, controlled the pace of the war, and commanded soldiers that included the 2nd and 3rd Regiments from the south.
According to military protocol, when Robson was absent and had made no other arrangements, Bo Yang was first in command, followed by Ais. There was no one else in the line of succession.
After all, a situation where all three were absent from the army at the same time had never occurred.
As the eastern sky began to whiten, the great magical beast hunt was gradually drawing to a close.
"East side, order the 2nd Regiment to dispatch a squad to the Cavalry Team. 3rd Regiment will fill the 2nd’s position..." Watching the flames before him begin to die down, Ais grew wary.
He hadn’t seen many magical beast corpses along the way, which meant the answer was obvious: most of the beasts were now cornered in this one small area.
"AWOOOO!"
"ROAR!"
...
Sure enough, just as Ais had predicted, the moment the flames were extinguished, a volley of magical beast roars erupted from behind the wall of fire.
In an instant, dozens of beasts from different species leaped out from behind the fire wall, fanning out as they charged toward the human military formation.
Had they been facing a beast pack of their own intelligence, this tactic might have allowed a few of them to escape with their lives.
Unfortunately for them, these magical beasts were facing a battle-hardened army, tested by months on the battlefield. If they could so easily overwhelm such a force, they wouldn’t have been driven into the Demon Beast Mountain Range in the first place.
Faced with the charging magical beasts, the entire human formation remained completely unfazed.
After being tempered by months of battle, which of the survivors wasn’t an elite of the elite? A small-scale skirmish like this was not enough to frighten them.
"Now! Loose!" Ais estimated the distance by eye and, judging it to be right, gave the order.
Instantly, the air was filled with the sound of whizzing arrows.
...
The fight with the magical beasts didn’t last long. The dozens of beasts were nearly all felled by the Soldiers’ arrows.
Robson’s men were Tier Seven Soldiers, after all. Low-tier magical beasts were little different from ordinary animals, and when the soldiers aimed for their vital points, nearly every shot was true.
The few magical beasts that managed to reach the front lines were swiftly dealt with by a handful of Mages and Claude working together.
After the battle, Ais ordered his men to collect all the Magical Beast Meat and await further orders. He himself went to find Robson.
...
"Come on out! I won’t kill you, I swear!"
"Really! I’m a peaceful guy. I just wanted to form a contract with you before. See? This phoenix next to me—she’s my partner!"
"Bullshit! That one sword strike from you—if your old man here wasn’t so fast, I’d be dead!"
"That was just a reflex! I mean, who wouldn’t get excited seeing a dragon? I admit, I might have been a bit heavy-handed."
"I absolutely will not harm you! I swear it on the Lord of Dawn!"
A geyser of mud shot up from the swamp. Robson retreated a few steps, avoiding the spray.
"To hell with this lord and that lord! Your grandpa Everton doesn’t believe in any of it!"
"Then at least give me my sword back! Return it, and I’ll lead my troops away. I’ll give you time to escape."
"Bullshit! Your grandpa Everton never flees! Kid, don’t think I can’t see what you’re up to! You want to trick me into coming out? Not in this lifetime!"
Hearing the dragon’s reply from the swamp, Robson could only sigh.
After the dragon had flown off earlier, Robson and Huang Na had given chase.
Unfortunately, perhaps because it sensed the imminent danger, the dragon had spread its wings and flown straight for the swamp.
Huang Na was only an adolescent and naturally couldn’t outfly a dragon in its prime. Robson hadn’t yet reached the Legendary rank, so he couldn’t fly indefinitely.
This led to the current stalemate, with the creature refusing to leave the swamp.
Robson had originally planned to use some clever words to trick the dragon into coming out so he could kill it. He had tried everything, but he hadn’t expected to run into such a "street-smart" dragon.
According to the dragon’s own story, it had spent several decades living in human society.
There was nothing Robson could do. After all, even an Extraordinary being needed to breathe. If he charged into the swamp, it was debatable whether he could even win a one-on-one fight.
What he’d just said was actually the truth, in part. After all, his sword was still stuck in the dragon’s body.
It was a dragon in the swamp, after all. If it was determined to play the waiting game, Robson might really have to wait until his next life to get his sword back.
Furthermore, according to Earl Wei Man, a sword bathed in Dragon Blood might have already become a near-Gold-grade item, or could have even reached the Gold grade itself.
If the dragon tossed the sword out, Robson would be willing to concede a little. Of course, concessions were one thing; whether the dragon could actually escape would be up to its own abilities.
"Sigh... Huang Na, let’s leave for now. There are probably still matters to attend to back there." Robson looked at Huang Na beside him. She was currently without her flames, showing only her ordinary, wine-red feathers.
Huang Na nodded, transformed into a bird, and returned to Robson’s shoulder.
Robson and Huang Na feigned their departure, waited a moment, and then darted back, only to find the place completely placid. The swamp had returned to its former tranquility, showing no sign that a dragon was hidden within.
At this point, Robson had no choice but to put the matter aside for now and figure out a solution later.
Giving up was out of the question. Whether as a magical beast or as a pile of Gold Coins, the allure of a dragon was simply too great to ignore.