Chapter 173: Assaulting the Snow Leopard Tribe

The next instant, Yuri’s right hand erupted with a terrifying, massive burst of force.

He violently snatched up the long halberd resting nearby and charged straight into the incoming cavalry troop. In a flash, resembling a steel whirlwind sweeping through a sea of fallen leaves, the halberd—already devastating in its lethality—was wielded with such monstrous strength that it effortlessly tore through the heavy cavalry, ripping both men and horses apart and sending them crashing to the ground.

Immediately following came the hot, gushing blood, which froze instantly into fine crimson dust amidst the bitter cold, fluttering and scattering everywhere.

Venigo surged forward, snatching Yuri out of the encirclement of the rusted cavalry. He watched the surrounding rusted horsemen and let out a cold, mocking chuckle.

In the distance, the arrows fired by the one-eyed marksmen were fierce and swift, accompanied by countless hailstones jointly summoned by the faceless mages, blanketing the area where the Prism Mercenary Corps was stationed. Under these circumstances, the mercenaries lowered their heavy crossbows, gripped their greatswords to use as shields to protect their vitals, and crouched down to minimize their target profile.

Evidently, Venigo’s training of the mercenaries was remarkably effective.

However, would Venigo simply allow the enemy to attack without retaliating?

*Pfft...*

A fountain of blood shot up into the sky. True to expectations, the enemy had also brought assassins. Yet, the Blades of the Void were nowhere near enough of a match for Sona. Before the Blades of the Void could inflict any harm on Hanny and Shirley, Sona’s daggers had already silently and cleanly slit their throats.

Moreover, there was a battle-ready giant cat.

Soul Mimicry: Scythe of the Dead Night!

Transforming into an assassination reaper of the dark night, Cait Sith Razorclaw leapt and bounded agilely through the crowd. Its sharp claws invariably found the precise timing to intercept the materializing Blades of the Void, swatting these half-baked assassins down like mere flies before they could even strike.

Under the protection of Sona and the giant cat, Hanny unhurriedly used light-arrow techniques to help Venigo clear away the enemies behind him. Meanwhile, Shirley returned the favor in kind with a barrage of hailstorms, attempting to disrupt the faceless mages' hail magic using the exact same spell.

This frost-like little girl, relying on her own strength alone, went toe-to-toe against the combined hail spells of multiple faceless mages without losing an inch of ground. Just as the spells on both sides reached a stalemate, the faceless mages let out successive screams of agony.

"Did you happen to forget something?" The little wolf princess greeted these modified pseudo-spellcasters from behind with heartfelt sincerity. The newly crafted Red Spider Claws possessed the magical property of energy-devouring. With the aid of this fresh toy, the little wolf princess easily tore through the lackluster magical barriers of the faceless mages, piercing straight into their vitals for a fatal one-hit kill.

Her movements were light, agile, and swift, taking the twisted lives of the faceless mages as effortlessly as a venomous bee.

Afterward, the little wolf princess cheerfully began hunting down the one-eyed marksmen.

"Come on! Rejoice in the icy wind, and let the revelry begin!" Venigo’s loud laughter erupted simultaneously. Billows of snow dust whipped up with the sweep of his arms, converging into a white whirlwind that howled as it dragged the surrounding rusted cavalrymen into its vortex, slicing through their rust-crusted armor-like skin with savage ice shards until they were shredded into ribbons of bloody meat.

Fantasy Termination!

Having lost his role-construction capability, Venigo quickly retreated back among the mercenaries with the aid of the open sky. Sophie appeared directly before him almost at the exact same instant, her greatsword skillfully deflecting several sharp arrows and a lunging spear, before executing a backhanded slash that cleaved a rusted pikeman attacking Venigo cleanly in two.

"You really are the most reliable one. What on earth is Soft doing?" Venigo complained.

"Over there." Sophie pointed toward the right. There, Soft had drawn a werewolf and a vampire, suddenly charging out from the enemy's blind spot.

His objective was simple: the one-eyed marksmen.

These monsters—possessing a single gigantic eyeball, sturdy right arms, and towering statures—boasted most of the advantages a proper archer should have. Their eyesight was sharp as an eagle's, their arm strength formidable, and they could draw ultra-heavy bows with a draw weight close to two hundred pounds. There was only one minor flaw: Nuah apparently failed to account for the impact of freezing weather on bowstrings.

Consequently, the performance of these one-eyed marksmen today was far from ideal; their shooting accuracy was completely inferior to the heavy crossbows of the Prism mercenaries.

And the appearance of Soft brought the final curtain down on all of their missions.

Soft Sky-Rift possessed Malzaran bloodline heritage. Not only did he wield exquisite swordsmanship drilled into him by the royal family, but he also possessed the Malzaran innate talent for manipulating lightning. Soft’s greatest achievement lay in his ability to perfectly combine these two combat skills, forging a unique fighting style entirely his own.

A flurry of electric sparks blossomed in Soft’s hands, leaping and scattering in all directions. When these electric arcs struck the enemy, they induced a mild numbness in the one-eyed marksmen. The moment the targets' speed dropped, awaiting them was Soft’s fierce and biting swordsmanship.

Although his swordsmanship bore similarities to Ross's, having engaged in intense battles against the Malzarans on the northern frontier for years, it had already acquired distinct characteristics of military swordsmanship: straightforward, direct, as cold and rigid as a block of ice.

Under the dual onslaught of lightning and blade, these one-eyed marksmen were left utterly devoid of any chance to fight back.

An encounter battle—it began abruptly, and ended just as swiftly. To an onlooker, it appeared as though Venigo had casually unleashed a few rounds of attacks and ground the opponents into mere pulp.

Only Venigo knew the truth.

The victory had been sealed even before the battle commenced.

The little wolf princess had detected the anomalies beneath the snow long ago; her acute sense of smell allowed her to pick up the distinct stench of modified organisms. Once she alerted Venigo, he subtly used secret signals to instruct Sophie and the rest to make preparations.

Therefore, when the shield-armed berserkers launched their surprise attack, the Prism Mercenary Corps was able to calmly and timely counter-attack, dealing a devastating blow to the adversary instead.

Furthermore, whether weapons or armor, the Prism mercenaries were equipped with gear specially treated by Venigo, fully taking into account the dry, cold climate and snow cover that might arise on the battlefield. In contrast, the modified forces of the Goat-Bleat Cult were evidently complacent. While they had indeed made changes in certain aspects, in many details, they completely lacked Venigo’s meticulousness.

Take, for instance, the bows of the one-eyed marksmen; take the slowed reactions of the rusted pikemen due to falling body temperatures; take the fact that they possessed zero corresponding reconnaissance methods, remaining entirely oblivious even as Soft quietly flanked around behind them under the cover of his white cloak.

Thus, one could say the battle was decided before it even started.

"We aren't far from the first target location now. Let's find a windbreak and set up camp," Venigo said to Soft. "You know this area well, pick a spot."

Soft acknowledged the order and vanished into the wind and snow. Before long, this experienced and resourceful frontier veteran had located a suitable campsite, directing the mercenaries to pitch tents adapted for survival in the snowy wilderness.

Naturally, this process could not do without inventions contributed by Venigo, such as the silkworm-style thermal sleeping bags and wind-proof, snow-proof portable tents.

At night, after making his customary wish to Sophie, Venigo crawled out of his tent and wandered around the perimeter.

Such freezing weather posed a harsh test for the physically frail Venigo. After making a round, he prepared to head back to sleep when he spotted the giant cat lying at the entrance of Hanny’s tent, squinting in a daze.

"What's wrong?" Venigo walked up and hooked the giant cat's fluffy tail with his foot.

The giant cat lazily flicked its tail and asked in a low voice, "I feel like lately, little Hanny doesn't seem to need my protection quite as much anymore."

"Feeling like you can't keep up with little Hanny's growth rate anymore?" Venigo chuckled. "Indeed, with a genius like her, it's bound to make one feel a bit depressed. Still, protection is definitely still needed, you know."

"I still feel a bit lost," the giant cat complained.

"Then, would you like to try my modification?" Venigo grinned mischievously. "Though the process is rather painful, the results so far have been pretty good."

The giant cat seemed somewhat tempted. Venigo burst into laughter, patting the cat's head. "Just teasing you. Your greatest trump card lies in your soul mimicry; accepting my modification might not necessarily yield much enhancement, but it would certainly introduce unnecessary dangers. However, if you simply wish to increase your utility, I do have a suggestion."

The suggestion Venigo offered was a symbiotic xenobiotic organism.

Symbiosis referred to a mutually beneficial relationship formed between a parasite and a host, wherein the parasite obtained material and energy supply from the host while feeding back a certain capability that the host lacked.

The giant cat was an alchemical organism with abundant intrinsic energy, meaning it should be capable of enduring a fairly high-tier alien cellular integration.

Similar to Yuri's symbiotic weapon, this parasitic organism could draw life force from the giant cat and convert it into offensive energy to be discharged. However, unlike Yuri's weapon, the energy released by the giant cat's parasite was much more potent, resembling a shotgun-like attack.

Equipped with this weapon, it would at least compensate for the giant cat's minor shortcoming of lacking a ranged attack.

Aside from this trivial episode, the night passed without further incident. The following day, this troop marched straight into the Snow Leopard tribe of the Malzarans, surrounding them completely.

The population of the Snow Leopard tribe was by no means small; however, under the successive volleys of dozens of heavy crossbows, the warriors of the Snow Leopard tribe fell in droves the moment they rushed out of their tents. And for the remaining warriors who managed to reach the Prism mercenaries during the gap in crossbow reloading, their iron swords and lightning proved largely ineffective.

Beneath the chainmail of the Prism mercenaries lay a thick layer of velvet under-armor, which isolated the metal armor from their bodies. When the electrical currents struck the chainmail, they merely conducted down along the iron boots into the ground and vanished without a trace.

As for the iron swords of the Malzarans, compared to high-end luxury goods like the imperial guard-issue chainmail, they were practically children's toys.

One might say that the greatest trouble facing the Prism Mercenary Corps was simply that there were too many members of the Snow Leopard tribe, making it impossible to slaughter them all in a short span of time.