Chapter Ninety-Eight The Tumbling Young Fox

Chapter: The Tumbling Young Fox

The enemy, too, was a veteran of many battles. As one of the two finest fire crossbowmen, how could he possibly lack a hidden ace up his sleeve?

He had only just slipped past the wind slash and raised his crossbow when panic surged through him. A seasoned warrior's instinct screamed danger.

So the leader of the fire crossbowmen immediately threw himself into a forward roll. Almost at the same instant, eight claw marks appeared where he had stood.

The future queen of the wolf clan, Akana Fanged, made her entrance.

The little wolf princess let out a clear, long howl. The moment her feet touched the ground, she burst forward at once, plunging between the two fire crossbow leaders. She clawed over the slower one, then spun sharply and leaped above the fleeing leader, driving both claws down in a vicious stab.

There was no escape. The fire crossbow leader swore he had never seen an opponent so swift, so ghostlike, especially once he realized the other was plainly just a little girl.

He could only raise the heavy crossbow in his hands to block. There was no doubt that this expensive, enchanted heavy crossbow would meet only one fate before the wolf-spider claws, whose sole purpose was cutting: it would be severed.

The little wolf princess cried out in delight. She hooked her legs around his neck and lifted both claws high, stabbing downward several times in rapid succession. It was a makeshift imitation of leopard shattering technique she had learned from Veniago's Adon template.

Clearly, it worked rather well.

After stabbing him to death, the little wolf princess still did not let him go. Instead, she locked her claws around his neck and hurled the corpse toward the burly man with the iron ball.

The burly man roared wildly. Obviously, he had been enraged beyond measure by this girl killing one of his men before his eyes.

With a sweep of the iron ball, he easily knocked the flying corpse aside. Then, bellowing, he strode toward the little wolf princess.

But his speed was like that of a turtle going all out to chase a cheetah.

Laughing, the little wolf princess kept circling the burly man at high speed, darting in now and then to rake him with a claw. Unfortunately, she never found a good opening, because although the burly man was slow on his feet, the iron ball in his hands moved quickly.

With the length and bulk of the iron ball, even a slight swing of his arm could cover a vast area. That left the little wolf princess with hardly any time to attack.

If she could not kill with one blow, then trading injuries would only be a losing bargain.

At that moment, Iru strode forward and smashed down with a shield.

He was not very clever, but he was willing to work hard. Veniago had taught him to imitate Captain America's shield maneuvers, and Iru obediently followed Veniago's method, swinging the shield a thousand times at a stretch until every muscle in his body had adapted to the motion.

He learned slowly, but he remembered with extraordinary firmness. Tower shield, greatsword, instinctive wrestling—those were the only three things Iru learned, sixteen hours a day, come wind or rain.

The shield strike came down like thunder.

The burly man gave a startled cry, turned around, and with the iron ball clasped in both hands, used it like a great shield to bounce Iru's shield aside.

Interesting: the burly man's iron ball was a weapon, yet he used it as a shield. Iru's great shield was a shield, yet he used it as a weapon.

Iru raised the tower shield, gave a low roar, and charged forward with all his strength. His power was immense; the collision made him seem like a charging elephant, and it actually forced the equally huge and powerfully built burly man back half a step.

This boy... what a presence!

Yet the tower shield's material was not good enough. Under the impact it shattered into pieces. Iru seemed not to notice at all, and the round shield in his other hand crashed down without hesitation.

Clang!

As the burly man was distracted by blocking Iru, Akana pounced onto his back, her sharp claws poised to plunge into his neck. The hair on the burly man's entire body stood on end. In an instant, as if exploding from within, he unleashed his latent potential, drawing on strength from nowhere to hurl the iron ball in his hands with astonishing speed while gripping the thick iron chain behind it, intercepting Akana's attack.

Iru let out a muffled grunt. The iron ball smashed against his round shield. Though he was stronger than ordinary men, he was still young; against a true man of strength, he would suffer.

After all, the other man may well have been enhanced with gene-modifying potion as well.

Remembering Veniago's instructions, Iru felt his chest tighten, then without hesitation spat out a mouthful of congealed blood. The blood splashed all over the burly man's face. As the man reflexively closed his eyes, Iru gave a fierce shout, clamped both hands tightly around the round shield, and rammed forward.

Ultimate Stardust Assault!

Caught off guard, the burly man was struck by Iru's sudden full-force burst and thrown backward. Akana was overjoyed. She leaped onto the burly man's chest, stabbed rapidly several times with her claws, killed with one strike, then vanished in retreat, pointing at the fallen man and laughing gleefully.

"Enemy leader. Eliminated." Iru roared hoarsely. "Drop your weapons and you won't be killed!"

On the other side, Veniago had already charged into the enemy leader's room. It was empty. He swiftly gathered the valuable intelligence within sight into his pack and looked around.

"Just as I thought, a hidden chamber." Veniago tapped his head, glanced around, and, seeing no enemies, dismissed his role construction. After resting, he switched to his Scavenger Meow build and began searching the area.

At the moment, he wore the body of a one-meter-tall Meow while dragging the oversized backpack that had originally belonged on an adult's back. The sight was absurd beyond words.

This was the first time he had used a level thirty Scavenger Meow built with divine power infusion.

He wanted to see how the scavenging trait, already excellent by nature, would change once infused with divine power.

Very quickly, Veniago let out a quiet laugh.

Indeed, his luck was excellent...

A carefully hidden box of potions, unopened heavy crossbow bows, a substantial amount of gold, and a small number of high-grade magic gems... Unlike ordinary scavenging, Veniago felt that everything valuable within a radius of several hundred meters seemed to be crying out alluringly to him.

All he had to do was collect it one item at a time.

Excited, Veniago led Yuri and the others through the secret stronghold. Before long, the mercenaries following behind him had their backs loaded with all manner of spoils, carrying them out of the cave in shifts.

"Huh? Honey, what are you doing?" While walking, Veniago suddenly spotted Honey tiptoeing along the wall in small steps. "Didn't I tell you not to come in?"

"Brother Veniago, you captured Shirley, didn't you? I can feel her..." Honey looked up, the tear tracks at the corners of her eyes still not dry.

"Yes, I did capture her." Veniago nodded. "But I haven't decided what to do with her yet."

"Shirley is very pitiful too..." Honey said softly.

"Pitiful? Her strength is probably no less than Sophie's." Veniago snorted. "And then there's that troublesome personality transformation. Wasn't the little girl tortured into a split personality?"

"Let me try, please?" Honey said eagerly, eyes shining. "Didn't you already take in the little wolf?"

"Akana's mind is simple, so taking her in wasn't a problem. But your Shirley sister..."

"It's sister." Honey protested. "Honey is the youngest."

"Fine, fine..." Veniago chuckled. "I'll give you a few days. If you can't persuade her..." He deliberately put on a fierce expression, until Honey once again unleashed her tearful, sparkling-eye super move and made him behave.

"Go on and try it," Veniago said with a wave of his hand.

"My lord..." Just then, Yuri darted out from the side, lowering his voice yet unable to suppress his excitement. "It's astonishing... deep within the cave, there is an entrance."

"I know. I opened it," Veniago said casually. "Without my special ability, how would those muscle-bound fire crossbowmen have thought to open it?"

He paused, then asked, "Did anyone go down first?"

Yuri was startled, then shook his head. "Without your order and Lady Sophie’s, none of us dared go in."

Veniago gave an "oh" and said nonchalantly, "Anyone who goes in will be dead for sure."

"Dead for sure?" Yuri froze.

"There are mechanical traps, magical traps, and guardian puppets inside. There are many kinds, and quite a few of them. With the strength of the thieves under us, no one could go in and come out unscathed." Veniago narrowed his eyes. "Still, if someone disobeys orders and acts on their own, I wouldn't feel sorry if they died."

"My lord, you truly are..." Yuri let out a dry, wry sigh.

"Are you satisfied with the harvest this time?" Veniago asked. "What is Sophie doing?"

"The lady is counting casualties and helping bandage and treat the wounded," Yuri replied.

"As expected of Sophie. She's the one who truly looks like a guild leader, isn't she?" Veniago asked.

"Your subordinate dares to answer... yes."

Veniago burst into laughter. He patted Yuri and said, "All right. First have the spoils moved out, make it look as though this place has been destroyed, but leave us a back door. We'll find a chance to bring a few people here later and explore the underground ruins."

He turned back, rummaged through his pack, then flicked his fingers to summon Ramen, searching through it for a while.

Before long, Veniago returned to Sophie's side in the guise of a white mage. Seeing her bandaging wounds, he said nothing and simply began treating the injured in silence.

By now Sophie had been busy for most of the day. If not for her sturdy physique and abundant energy, far beyond that of ordinary people, she would have collapsed long ago. Veniago's arrival at this moment happened to allow most of the people to receive Sophie's favor.

"Your bandaging is very good," Veniago said, cutting off Sophie's unfinished words. "Leave the rest to me. You organize the main force to withdraw and escort the spoils back to our temporary camp."

Sophie had wanted to ask Veniago whether he had not been the one who told her to bandage the wounded. But seeing his expression, she swallowed the words back, leaned on her sword to stand, and directed the mercenaries to begin withdrawing in orderly fashion.

As for the wounded, once they were crowded together, Veniago cast Great Restoration, and since Sophie was using the alchemical healing bandages he had made, they could be healed to about eighty percent in just a few passes. The rest would be fine after a day or two of rest.

A successful operation.