Chapter 106: The Bio-Enhanced Human and the Fox Cub

As he spoke, his finger tapped again. The booming thunder flashed simultaneously, engulfing both black-robed figures.

"And that's why I don't like fighting such weak enemies. No challenge at all." Winigo complained.

He let out a soft "huh," looking at the two black-robed men.

A great lightning spell, cast by a level 30 black mage with the magic enhancement skill, wasn't exactly devastating in raw power, but it was enough to destroy a young dragon—without leaving so much as a speck of ash. Yet these two black-robed men had left something behind.

Golden-red blood vessels, still faintly alive, eyeballs and a heart? All tangled together in a knot, twitching futilely.

Go pick it up? No way—who knew how dangerous that thing was. Or maybe have Shida grab it?

Winigo snapped his fingers; he had just thought of the perfect candidate.

Ramen, come on out!

Winigo's pet number one, the Sky-Sea Leviathan (juvenile) Ramen, appeared beside him with a waggle of its head, affectionately ramming him flat onto the ground.

Wait—that parenthetical "juvenile" really kills the mood.

Under Winigo's mischievous instructions, Ramen swam up to the clump of red foreign matter and, with a curious flick of its broad fin, swept at the thing.

The ugly mass of blood vessels, eyeballs, and hearts suddenly sprang to life, plunging furiously into Ramen's fin.

Without any complications, it would have traveled along Ramen's body to take over its blood vessels, brain, and heart... but there was one small problem.

Ramen wasn't a mammal-class whale. It was a Sky-Sea Leviathan from the elemental plane. Inside its body, there were no blood vessels or heart—only a frame of pure elemental matter, augmented by a few special substances.

So that mass of matter... got lost.

Ramen looked at the foreign thing trying to possess its body with mild curiosity. It twisted around, then let out an indignant roar.

"Try to control it. It should be able to accept its host's commands," Winigo said. "Same way you control your tail or your fins."

The Sky-Sea Leviathan shook its head, as though it had found a bit of the trick. Then, eerily, two huge blades whipped out from Ramen's fins, covered in shimmering golden-red lines.

Given Ramen's size, the bio-blades it "fashioned" were several times larger than anything a human could produce. When Ramen swam at high speed, with that sweeping motion of its twin fins, just how astonishing would the killing power of those blades be?

Interesting. Shida was quite curious about Ramen's new toy. She leaned in close to Ramen, which immediately provoked its displeasure.

After all, being fellow elemental beings, Ramen and Shida shared a natural enmity. Ramen had never liked high temperatures, but oddly enough, after being parasitized by that unknown substance, it had gained the ability to absorb fire elements, and its resistance to heat had noticeably increased.

That was the only reason Ramen and Shida hadn't ended up fighting.

Winigo felt a sudden thrill.

A Ramen that could carry tons of weight and fly through the air... a Shida who could hurl explosive fireballs... wasn't this just a magical version of a Kirov airship!

Well then, why not give it a try?

Winigo jumped onto Ramen's back and gave its head a light pat. "Let's go for a ride."

Shida giggled, hanging from Winigo's shoulder as she idly looked around. Ramen flicked its long tail, rose into the air, and drifted off toward the southwest.

"Those three must have accomplices; at least they should have a camp... Shida, see it?" Winigo asked.

Shida extended her slender finger, pointing to the ground. Following the direction of her finger, Winigo squinted and swept his gaze over the terrain with his Clairvoyant Eye.

A well-concealed temporary camp. From a distance, it looked like just a small hill overgrown with shrubs. But looking closer, one could see it was actually a mountain of supplies disguised as such.

"These people are after something big." Winigo snorted. "Hmm, no one around?"

He thought for a moment, then lightly stroked Shida's little cheek and whispered a few instructions.

Shida giggled softly. She raised her hand and, with a whoosh, hurled a fireball onto the shrubs, setting them ablaze instantly.

"Fly higher." Winigo gave Ramen a gentle pat.

A few seconds later, black-robed men emerged from the shadows—around fifty of them, clearly organized in their tasks, as if trained for just such an emergency.

They naturally spotted the Sky-Sea Leviathan in the air.

Swoosh... several arrows whistled through the air. Shida giggled, flicking her hand in a light arc. A violent burst of flame swallowed the arrows, leaving only a few droplets of molten metal scattering, which an irritated Ramen brushed aside with ease.

"Strong arms, and good aim too. Looks like Nua's body modifications have gotten even better." Winigo nodded.

These men weren't many in number, but they were mercenaries of considerable skill to begin with, and with Nua's superb bio-modifications, they could easily match the kingdom's elite soldiers.

Still, at this point, Winigo wasn't afraid of opponents like these—even if there were fifty of them.

Then again, was fifty really that many?

Shida tilted her head, puzzled. She seemed to be having too much fun to care. Without waiting for Winigo's order, she gathered a huge mass of fire-cloud between her hands and let it drift lazily downward.

Fire Spirit Art: Cloud

Seeing that slow-moving cloud of blazing red—golden-red fire threads writhing within it—the people below seemed to panic. Clearly, there were no mages among them. A few of the modified high-ranking Goat Song cultists did possess some magical attack capability, but they had absolutely no idea what magical counterspell meant.

In their panic, they launched magical attacks at the airborne target. But unfortunately for them... Winigo carried a counter-skill called Mana Rebound.

Any magical attack received would be returned with equal magics!

And so, in that instant, the high-ranking Goat Song cultists were engulfed by identical spells—only far more devastating in destructive power. Meanwhile, the lazily drifting red cloud finally settled onto the shrub-disguised supplies, roaring into a furious blaze.

"Good work. Let's pull back." Winigo snapped his fingers. "We'll tell the High Council everything and let them do the worrying."

Just as Winigo said, it was the High Council who had the worrying to do.

They hadn't even found a way to deal with the impact of the four Elemental Gates on the kingdom, and then the Goat Song Cult—which had suddenly grown so unusually active—stretched their once-overwhelming military superiority dangerously thin.

And so it was that Winigo, a man of steady reputation, along with his Prism Mercenary Company, found themselves busier than ever.

It could be said that Sir Temple was quite generous. He generously loaned ten sword instructors to serve as Prism's mid-level commanders—these men were themselves reserve candidates for the captaincy of Sir Temple's own guard; leading a small mercenary squad was more than within their capabilities.

Sir Newton loaned four mages as a show of deterrent force. Sir Scamon sent over a squad of elite archers, Sir Anthony dispatched four priests, and Lady Friss simply advanced a huge sum of money—enough to keep the Prism Mercenary Company busy working for her for a full year.

As for the Regent, the most powerful of the Eight Greats, he sent only a single document: permission for the Prism Mercenary Company to freely purchase all military-grade weapons, including heavy crossbows, provided they "notified the High Council" in advance. That was arguably the most valuable form of aid of all.

Winigo was genuinely grateful for the Eight Greats' generosity. For a mercenary company, such favor was a rare privilege.

As for why the High Council was so accommodating... who knew? Winigo had never been particularly good at that kind of thinking.

He was just a simple, combat-ready mercenary company. Probably.

As to why the High Council went out of its way to look after the Prism Mercenary Company, Marin—former prince of thieves—had a few thoughts of his own.

In his view, it was simply a matter of checks and balances.

Compared to the large mercenary companies, the Goat Song Cult, and other factions, the High Council preferred to deal with the Prism Mercenary Company—small in number but well-versed in combat, and familiar to them. It was far easier to control. Of course, they also knew perfectly well that Winigo, the company's soul, had no real ambition, nor was he the type to play petty tricks.

For a man like that, a bit of assistance was no big deal. And besides, quite a few of their own people were embedded in the Prism Mercenary Company, ready at any moment to monitor and control the entire organization.

"So... we can go all out now?" Winigo asked. His target was Marin.

Marin nodded.

"Alright, let's divide the work." Winigo tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "Marin, you set up the intelligence network—that's your specialty. Sophie, you're in charge of the company's training. We borrowed the High Council's instructors, but in the end, they're someone else's strength. Honey... you'll work with the priests. Akana, you handle the scouts—recon and counter-recon are all yours. Big Cat, you protect Honey and keep an eye on the base while you're at it."

"Did you forget someone?" Marin reminded him with a wry smile.

"Oh, Shirley..." Winigo looked over at the little girl mage sitting blankly in the corner. That little girl with her multiple personalities could be remarkably easy to overlook at times. "Can you handle Sir Newton's mages?"

"Kill them?" The girl's eyes shifted. "That's easy—just leave it to old lady me. I'll shove their eyeballs up their—"

"I mean, make them so happy that they forget Sir Newton is their boss, and our Prism Mercenary Company is their dream home."

"That one sounds a bit harder." Shirley's eyes suddenly went vacant. "I'm not good at charm magic."

"Forget it..." Winigo slapped his forehead. "Shirley, find a chance to show off your magic and make those mages worship you."

Shirley acknowledged with a grunt, then shrank back into her corner without moving.

"Speaking of which," Marin suddenly asked, "what exactly is that wisp of ghost fire following you around?"

Ghost fire?