Chapter 62
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 062
Chapter Title: Night Raid (3)
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The expedition army's tents were arranged in a honeycomb-like formation.
This layout was designed to protect the key figures. If Duke Edwin or Archbishop Conrad were to die, the entire expedition would be thrown into uncertainty.
A campsite with small tents clustered while avoiding trees and rocks. Toward the center, the status of those staying in the tents grew higher, guarded by elite troops.
In other words...
The farther out from the center of the camp, the lower the caliber of the soldiers. The expedition army was aware of this issue and had stationed several field commanders, but it didn't seem to make much difference.
'They're losing control of the situation.'
The problem lay in the soldiers' mixed backgrounds.
To supplement their shortage of manpower, Duke Edwin had requested aid from the kingdom alliance, and nobles had contributed troops to set a good precedent.
The issue was that these gathered forces were of low quality, and their diverse origins meant a lack of unit cohesion.
It was a battle they could win if they stood and fought. But terrified soldiers were fleeing. The sudden night raid had broken their spirits.
"Uwaaaah!!"
"Someone, help me—!"
Soldiers scattering like startled sheep. To the beasts, it was a feast.
The beasts pursued their prey.
...And at the same time, the spearhead in the hunter's hand gleamed coldly.
Thwack!!
A sharp impact rang in his ears. The wild boar beast chasing the soldier was felled by the thrown spear. Moments later, a red wolf streaked past it.
Swish.
Rex extended a tentacle. At its tip dangled the wild boar beast's inner core. Apparently, during that brief pass by the boar earlier, he'd thrust out a tentacle and extracted it.
'Not bad.'
Woojin chuckled softly.
"You eat that one."
Rex didn't hesitate and crunched it down. Right after, a cracking sound came from his hind legs. His running speed picked up even more.
The wild boar beast's signature charging power. Now that Rex had acquired it, he let out an excited howl.
'I should patrol the outskirts like this and take down every beast that catches my eye.'
He was a bit worried about the Harmony Church, but it should be fine. Rolang was a rare powerhouse with exceptional skill.
If something happened to the choir side, the wolves would howl loudly as a signal. With that in place, Woojin pressed on with the hunt without hesitation.
Even now... beasts were swarming in from all directions, drawn like fish to bait.
Thwack!!
He skewered visible beasts with his spear, and Rex retrieved it with a tentacle before extracting the core. The whole process took just a few breaths. Astonishing hunting efficiency.
While sweeping through the beasts like this, a gargoyle entered his view.
Crunch, crunch.
The gargoyle was devouring a centipede whole. Green blood spurted from the centipede with every movement of its jaws.
As always, he hurled the spear with all his might. The startled gargoyle shielded itself with its wings.
Pfook!!
The spearhead pierced the wing membrane. But it wasn't fatal. Blocked by the wing, it hadn't embedded deeply, and the beast had twisted away at the last moment to avoid a critical hit.
"Grraaawr!!"
Roaring, the gargoyle yanked out the spear from its wing. With its keen hearing, stealth attacks were tricky.
Woojin dismounted from Rex's back.
"Wait here a moment."
He had something he wanted to try.
Gripping the machete in reverse grip, he charged. The distance closed in an instant. To deal with the fearless human, the gargoyle swung its fist down with full force.
The trajectory was obvious, so dodging the punch was easy.
'That's a feint—the real attack is...'
The tail.
As expected, the gargoyle whipped its tail like a lash. An attack utilizing its weight amplification ability. Woojin raised his machete to block it.
Claaang!!
The intense shock shoved at his body.
But Woojin held his ground without budging an inch. Instead, his feet were deeply embedded into the earth.
'...Yeah, this works.'
Weight Amplification.
His body was too light relative to his strength, leaving him wanting in several situations. That's why he'd long desired this ability, but opportunities were rare.
Gargoyles were sharp, and as flying beasts, they were hard to hunt.
Groooan—
Woojin clenched his fist tight. The harder he gripped, the heavier it felt. Even standing still was an effort.
Thud, boom, thud!
With every step, the ground cracked open, leaving deep footprints.
The gargoyle, witnessing this, froze in terror. It flapped its wings to flee. But Woojin kicked off the ground first and swung his fist with all his might.
Thwaaaack!!
A deafening boom assaulted the ears. The gargoyle's head burst like a water balloon. Its headless body crumpled limply onto the dirt.
A fist infused with weight amplification. Immense power, but with clear pros and cons.
'Ow... that smarts.'
Woojin's brow furrowed slightly. His wrist tingled like he'd punched a faulty arcade machine. He stood there for a moment, flexing his hand.
'That's why gargoyles only dive from above.'
Woojin had just brute-forced his swing. Gargoyles, however, always attacked in a way that leveraged the weight without fighting it—to minimize the strain.
But that made their attacks predictable. Repetitive dives were easy to read.
'Gonna need some practice.'
Soon the wrist pain faded. With his sturdy bones and abomination regeneration, recovery was quick.
He sliced open the gargoyle's chest with his dagger and extracted the core... then felt eyes on him.
Rex was staring intently.
"Want it?"
The wolf nodded vigorously. Seemed envious of Woojin's strike from earlier.
'If Rex got weight amplification... it'd be seriously useful.'
Stone hide and tentacles.
Combined into a stone whip, plus weight amplification? Rex's tentacles could deliver massive blows with every swing.
Woojin readily offered the core. Rex chewed and swallowed it eagerly.
"Feel anything?"
"..."
Rex's expression turned glum. No ability acquired, apparently.
It was expected.
Weight amplification was notoriously hard to inherit. Woojin himself had devoured over forty gargoyles without success before finally nabbing it.
"Let's go. If we hustle, we might bag one more."
Woojin mounted up as he spoke. Motivated or not, Rex bolted off. His speed was noticeably faster now.
He hadn't gained the ability, but the core had boosted his physical prowess. Woojin and Rex scanned the surroundings swiftly.
...But the hunt ended there.
'The main force is mobilizing.'
With the situation stabilized, elites emerged from the camp's center.
To the left, troops from the Church of Wisdom. To the right, private soldiers of Duke Leventor's house. The two forces advanced in perfect order.
"First row, fire."
Twang twang thwang—!
Soldiers in tight formation. The front row loosed their crossbows. Blessed silver bolts rained down on the beasts like a downpour.
The front row knelt, drawing back their crossbow strings taut. Simultaneously, the second row fired.
The tactic known as volley fire.
It minimized firepower gaps caused by reloading times. Relentless barrages made the beasts scream in agony.
'No more hunting now.'
Those troops arriving meant they'd finished off the gargoyles raiding Tarasque. With the main offensive underway, the chaos would soon settle.
As he thought that...
Suddenly, the army halted. Soldiers hesitated to fire. Woojin grasped the situation easily.
'Hostages.'
Cunning monkey beasts thrust living soldiers forward as shields. One, grabbed by the nape, gasped,
"Ugh... p-please... spare me..."
The hostage gestured not to shoot. The pitiful sight made the soldiers falter.
Displeased by the stall, perhaps...
...a superior stepped forward.
"Why have we stopped?"
A white-haired elder spoke calmly. White Viper Cornelius, commander-in-chief of the second expedition.
A young knight explained cautiously.
"As you see... we have hostages."
"I see."
Cornelius glanced ahead casually, then extended his right hand to the knight.
"Crossbow."
"Here, sir."
The young knight handed over his crossbow. Cornelius took it and pulled the trigger without pause.
Thump!
"Guh, glurk..."
A silver bolt lodged in the hostage's throat. He thrashed, gurgling, before his head lolled limp.
The soldiers' morale froze. Even the monkeys holding him panicked.
"What are you waiting for?"
Cornelius muttered. The knight snapped to and shouted,
"...First row, fire!"
The order rang out. Bolts followed, shredding monkey beasts and their hostages alike. Nothing left but cooling corpses.
Cornelius returned the crossbow.
"See to it I don't have to step in again."
"Yes, sir!"
The knight bellowed like a rookie.
The stalled army advanced once more, atmosphere far stricter. Woojin watched from afar.
'Ruthless, as rumored.'
The judgment was sound. Negotiating there would've been foolish. But that act felt laced with personal malice.
The reason was simple. The old knight's eyes burned with fury—not at the beasts, but the captured soldier.
'Separate from the raid... he seemed angrier at the troops.'
When the beasts attacked, panicked soldiers broke ranks and fled.
They ran to what they thought safest: the camp center, where elites were stationed.
The problem? Troops jammed in one spot, control collapsed. Crowds tangled in chaos, delaying the main force.
This cost the expedition dearly, so commander Cornelius had every reason to be furious.
'But it's not the soldiers' fault.'
Clustering elites in the center while placing weaker allies on the vulnerable outskirts... that screamed cannon fodder from the start.
Did Cornelius have the right to blame them for fleeing to survive?
'...Hard to judge.'
He knew hunting inside out, but war? Not so much. Woojin refrained from snap judgments.
Under the knight's command, the army circled the camp. Thinking the tide had turned, the beasts abandoned their prey without regret.
The long night drew to a close.