Chapter 96: The Fire Crossbowman and the Young Fox

“You’re a villain,” Marlin said with righteous severity.

“Shut up, rat-head,” Venigo retorted.

The two men locked eyes and refused to yield...

“But you came at just the right time,” Venigo said at last, returning to the matter at hand. “Tomorrow we set out. First, we’ll help you settle this score. And while we’re at it... we’ll take a little interest from the Fire Crossbowmen and the Dragon Cavalry.”

He thought for a moment, went back to his room, and returned with a backpack, which he tossed to Marlin.

“A Dark Lightning Recurve, sharpened bolts... as for armor, just use the standard studded leather. The belt has semi-solid restoration potions and speed potions. Custom-made for you,” Venigo said. “I wouldn’t want you kicking the bucket too early, bastard.”

Marlin smiled. “Then my thanks to you. I’ll do my best to live long enough to die after you.”

“You handle the battle plan, rat-head,” Venigo said. “If I were the one arranging it, I’d just go in with a frontal assault.”

“You’re no less crafty than I am, so why...” Marlin asked in confusion.

“Ah, our minds simply work differently,” Venigo explained. “I’m, after all, more of a researcher and maker. You’re the sly old boss of the underworld.”

“Fine, if you put it that way...” Marlin nodded and took his leave.

“Then, while today’s prayer boon is still unused, I might as well make a few more things.” Venigo sighed. “After all, the difference between victory and defeat often lies in a little unremarkable preparation made beforehand.”

Amid the sounds of prayer, under the rare and generous blessing of the Lord of Petitions, who granted a great boon of alchemical yield, Venigo began his work.

As more and more sacred fragments were offered to the Lord of Petitions, it became clear that the young goddess named Sophie possessed ever greater power of wishful grace. She too seemed increasingly willing to lend Venigo proper aid, helping him grow stronger still.

The next morning, scarcely had Venigo fallen asleep when a commotion outside jolted him awake.

“Ready?” He smiled softly, sprang out of bed, and slung a huge mountain pack onto his back.

With a snap of his fingers, Venigo summoned his familiar, Ramen, outside the window. Beneath it hung several more enormous packs.

“All set. We can go.” Venigo leaped onto Ramen’s back and patted its great head. Ramen gave a joyous roar, tossing its head as it swam into the sky.

A whale of the sky and sea!

The astonishing beast drew many eyes from both inside and outside the town. Seeing only an unknown youth, many began murmuring among themselves, asking who on earth he might be.

“We are Prism. The Prism Mercenary Corps from Free Paradise.” From midair came a voice unmistakably magnified by magic. “Words are empty. Today, we will use the Fire Crossbowmen and Dragon Cavalry gangs as the sacrifice with which we make our name! All units, attention!”

Crack!

Amid a nearly uniform stamp of boots, the one hundred and fifty mercenaries of Prism came to attention in flawless formation, imposing and fierce.

Among them, the thirty-two who had received Venigo’s specially prepared injections were especially striking. Their muscles were visibly enlarged, their frames more massive, and all about them radiated the sharpness that belonged only to elite warriors.

“Move out!”

At the command, the one hundred and fifty men formed into five columns and jogged out of the town, heading deep into the Icewind Plateau.

Their target was a small ice mountain on the plateau. In the vast white wasteland it was utterly unremarkable, and few knew it to be the Fire Crossbowmen’s stronghold.

But Venigo knew.

While the mercenaries trained, he had not been idle.

First, by combining the years, places, and times of the Fire Crossbowmen’s raids on merchant caravans, he estimated possible locations. Then he visited each likely area and used Ramen’s aerial mobility to observe from above, quickly eliminating most of them.

As for the Fire Crossbowmen’s base, people would always come and go. Once Venigo had his eye on it, matters became easy.

A product of Nanoka’s general sundries, a potent pheromone.

Secretly dropping the pheromone from the air onto a Fire Crossbowman meant that wherever he walked, he would leave a scent trail. Though insects were scarce in such a freezing place, there were still one or two species that could survive amid ice and snow.

Such as frost flea flies.

The pheromone Venigo used was extracted from collected frost flea flies. So when he discovered large numbers of them around this ice mountain, he guessed at once that the Fire Crossbowmen’s hideout was here.

Thus he led the Prism Mercenary Corps straight this way.

Knowledge is power, after all.

“Yuri, take the scout team and take a look around the vicinity first,” Venigo ordered as they neared the target. “Don’t give those bastards any chance to send a signal.”

Naturally, the Fire Crossbowmen would have hidden sentries. Wrapped in pure white cloaks, they remained motionless in the snow, their heavy crossbows painted white as well, concealed to perfection. But among the scouts were two experts at tracking by scent.

Already gifted with keen noses, their talent in this area had been further refined by genetic modification. Once that ability was activated, their sense of smell would surpass that of dogs by sixteenfold.

Within a kilometer, scarcely anything living could escape their notice.

After finding their quarry, the two scouts split to either side and quietly slipped away. The others followed carefully behind them, circling in from the flank toward the hidden sentries.

With the targets locked, it was Yuri and another scout, one especially known for explosive speed, who made the strike. Their bodies were somewhat stiffened by the cold, but even so, the strengthened frame of a modified scout still possessed several times the speed of an ordinary warrior.

In the blink of an eye, Yuri and the assassin-scout were atop the sentry, pinning his neck with their knees and driving the unglinting blades in their hands ruthlessly into the target’s back heart, lungs, and nape—three cuts without pause, leaving the enemy no chance at all.

“Handled. Yuri’s been trained well,” Venigo said to Marlin with a smile.

He had seen many assassins before, after all; he had once been one of the biggest underworld bosses in Free Paradise. Marlin had some understanding of training methods, and with Venigo’s knowledge added in, Yuri and the other assassin-scout had been shaped into what they were.

“Not bad. Still far below the level of the top assassins I’ve seen, but compared with Prism’s current situation, it’s enough,” Marlin said with a nod.

“Come to think of it, almost every Fire Crossbowman carries a crossbow. Compared with Skamon’s sharpshooters, a crossbow is slower, but much easier to train with,” Venigo said with a dark laugh. “The reason I chose them as our opponents was because I had my eye on the crossbows in their hands.”

“Crude crossbows are worth very little. The Fire Crossbowmen may be the leading bandits of the ice plains, but most of what they carry is low-grade gear,” Marlin replied. “Don’t expect too much.”

“Relax, I’m not stupid,” Venigo said with a grin. “But this time I won’t be disappointed. I’ve had them under watch for a week, and the Sheep-Singing Cult just delivered a shipment here. There has to be what I want in it.”

What Venigo wanted was the gene-modification medicine made by Noua; the heavy crossbowmen’s gear and the like were only secondary.

“I found a secret door,” Venigo said, glancing toward Yuri’s group. “Speed up. Take the main gate and all major passages.”

The mercenaries quickened by a third.

Venigo looked back once, telling Marlin to note the names of any mercenaries who failed to keep up, then turned his attention to the Fire Crossbowmen’s hidden stronghold.

The gate was opened with great care by a thief among the mercenaries, who disarmed the alarm trap set upon it. He was a true lock-picking master Marlin had poached from Free Paradise.

Venigo slid soundlessly up to the gate. In the use of the skies, he was more skilled than its creator, Sir Newton; for him, erasing the sound of footsteps with the currents beneath his feet was as easy as breathing.

The gate opened slowly with a muted rumble. Venigo frowned faintly and darted in first.

Sure enough, not far beyond the door stood two sentries. Hearing the gate, they turned and were just about to come investigate. Venigo did not hesitate; he drew the pufferfish toxin from his waist and surged forward on a stream of air.

“Enem—”

The sentries had barely gotten the warning out before the gleaming flash of the blade drove into their throats.

One cut through the neck, severing the warning that had not yet been spoken.

Without transforming, relying only on his own strength and the razor edge of his blade, Venigo had at last succeeded in killing an enemy by his own hand.

He smiled. Then the transformation began!

Character build complete. FFTA system. Level 20 samurai. Build finished.

Main skill: ultimate art. Passive skill: dual wield. Counter skill: reflect. Ready.

Being able to unleash ultimate arts with a long sword and a sword, with multiple elemental bonus attacks and quite practical triggered special effects, all atop already extreme physical offense, this class was clearly ideal for fully unleashing the unmatched lethality of the pufferfish toxin blade.

At this level, a level-20 samurai was enough.

Behind Venigo, Prism’s mercenaries poured in one after another. Venigo stood motionless, watching them spread out to seize the key passages.

“Still a bit messy, huh?” Venigo said, turning to Marlin.

“Indeed,” Marlin said with a nod. “An elite force isn’t so easy to train. Though you do have excellent techniques and decent resources.”

“Training will be your responsibility, along with Sophie’s. Sophie will focus on martial skills and discipline; you’ll train the scouts, assassins, and the rest. Oh, and we should put caravan formation on the agenda as well. Of course, we’ll need to speak with Lady Friss first; there’s no getting around her on that matter.”