136 in Action

The Saigon District is situated at the southwestern tip of the Ice Plains. Sheltered by a gentle, rising mountain range that blocks the cold air descending from the north, it remains a rare, relatively warm oasis within the northwestern frozen expanse. Its favorable climate and soil have made it one of the few areas in the region capable of self-sufficiency in food production, a factor that has also led to its relative isolation from the outside world.

When Pedia led the border guards into the Saigon District, the drastic changes to the administrative area left many of the soldiers who had visited before feeling deeply unsettled. Numerous once-prosperous and lively villages had been reduced to ruins. Traces of the carnage were still visible—bloody marks so fresh they could not have been more than three days old.

Pedia rose from the edge of a pool of blood, looked up, and swung onto his wolf. With a single gesture, his cavalry followed him, sweeping away like a gust of wind. After riding for about ten minutes, Canis, the silver wolf beneath Pedia, flicked its ears; its acute hearing had detected something ahead.

In perfect sync with the beast, Pedia understood immediately. With a wave of his hand, two scouts broke from his flanks and surged forward, while the remaining soldiers tightened their formation, ready to face any sudden threat.

Less than ten minutes later, one of the scouts returned, reporting rapidly, "Commander, we have discovered a small-scale battle in the White Pine Forest ahead. There are thirty Venom-Tooth Gray Lions and eight Black-Horned Rhinos. Over a hundred people are trapped, most of them elderly and women. The captain has already led men to reinforce them."

Pedia said nothing. With a single gesture, three combat squads peeled off to follow the scout. Pedia then pulled five more squads from the remaining ranks, directing them to fan out in five different directions to secure the perimeter.

Once these arrangements were made, Pedia led the remaining troops toward the site of the battle.

***

With a flick of his wrist, the blade fell. The short sword, having seen countless battles, had grown dull. Striking the magical beasts, it embedded itself into muscle and bone but could no longer deliver the clean, decisive strikes of the past. The blade became lodged in the half-severed head of a Venom-Tooth Gray Lion, unable to advance or retreat. At that moment, two other Gray Lions seized the opportunity to lunge, their long, sharp fangs—glowing with a sickly blue-gray light—bared. Aiming directly for his shoulder and neck, he instinctively swung his arm, using the corpse of the lion impaled on his blade to sweep across. The force struck the underbellies of the two charging beasts, sending them tumbling backward. They rolled across the ground, unable to recover.

Tatu stepped on the carcass of a Gray Lion and wrenched his short sword free. The pungent, fishy stench of blood did nothing to deter these maddened beasts; if anything, it made them more agitated. Watching those eyes glowing with an unnatural crimson light, the gloom in Tatu’s eyes deepened. He had only been on home leave to visit his family—how could he have stumbled into this? How had he managed to run headlong into such a rare and ferocious magical beast riot?

He truly didn't know whether his luck was good or bad.

"Roar!" The frenzied beasts knew no exhaustion. As one wave of combat ended, another began. Just as Tatu took a moment to catch his breath, more fearless Gray Lions pounced. This time, even a Black-Horned Rhino had silently set its sights on him.

"All units... Fire!" Along with the sharp, resonant command, Tatu suddenly heard the sound of something tearing through the air. Instinct took over; he gripped his short sword and parried a Gray Lion, finally catching a glimpse of what had arrived—it was a perfectly uniform volley of arrows!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" As the arrows struck the ground in sequence, a series of miniature "earthquakes" erupted one after another, shaking the ground so violently that the beasts not hit directly lost their footing.

Seeing this, Tatu let out a long breath. The reinforcements had finally arrived.

***

The sharp arrows moved so fast that even the sound of the wind was left trailing behind them. They pierced the air with lethal precision. In the clear sky, a series of miserable and angry shrieks suddenly erupted. Within a minute, a black dot plummeted from above, hitting the ground with a thud. There, a single, exquisite elven magic arrow had pierced through five roaming eagle-birds, each struck in a vital spot. The accuracy was truly staggering.

"Aha! Lunch is sorted!" Flora ran over, bouncing with joy. She picked up the string of birds, flicked her wrist to extract the magic arrow, and returned it to her quiver, clutching the five prizes that would soon be her meal.

"Theresa, I want smoked meat—the kind you made last time with that mud and all those messy things." Flora trotted over to Theresa, dropped the birds, and began to "order" her meal.

Theresa rolled her eyes at her. "You’re a half-elf, don't spend all day thinking about meat. Isn't eating fruits and vegetables and drinking spring nectar supposed to be your noble tradition?"

"Haha, if it's tradition, then it's obsolete," Flora waved her hand dismissively. After specifying her cravings, she hopped over to Habata to study the map with him.

Theresa watched, smiling and shaking her head, as she set up the pot and began to slowly prepare lunch. Along this journey, she had truly become the "Logistics Minister"—cooking three meals and setting up camp every night. Although she was capable, she was beginning to grow weary.

She wrapped the "beggar’s chicken" and buried it in the earth, which had been baked hot by the fire, and set the soup to simmer. Theresa then strolled over to Flora and Habata to look at their findings.

"...We are less than three days away from the ore vein. If we go any further, we might run into other low-level fire elementals. My bow isn't very effective against them. Habata, you need to protect Theresa... Should I go scout a safer path first?"

"No need for that much trouble," Theresa said, smiling as she joined the conversation. "I’ve been studying an Elemental Spirit-Gathering Array recently and was looking for a chance to test its power. If it works, these low-level elementals shouldn't pose any threat to us."

"That would be perfect!" Flora was startled, then cheered, immediately pulling Theresa aside to discuss the specifics.

Theresa tilted her head, thinking for a moment before saying, "I can't be certain it will work—how about this: if you can catch an elemental, I'll test it out."

Flora and Habata, both doers, immediately agreed and stood up, ready to hunt for the fire elementals. Theresa couldn't help but laugh. "Didn't you just say we were three days away from the main mine? Where are you going to find an elemental now?"

Flora blinked mischievously, her eyes curving into crescents. "Even though you mostly run into them near the main mine, there's a word in this world called 'baiting.' Hehe, this is a job for us archers! Theresa, you and Habata wait here, I'll be right back!"

With that, Flora stepped onto her flying hoverboard and zoomed off, vanishing in an instant.

Watching the leaves tremble in her wake, Theresa shook her head with a wry smile. "Such a temper... but she is cute, wouldn't you agree?"

Habata, caught off guard by the question, blinked for two seconds before offering a simple, honest smile and a nod.

***

"Tatu Jones?" Pedia looked at the disheveled young man and narrowed his eyes slightly. Although their rivalry dated back to their student days, the mutual disdain had always remained. Meeting an "old acquaintance" in such a setting left Pedia with a complex mix of emotions.

Tatu was equally conflicted. He looked up at Pedia, who sat high atop a massive silver wolf in full military uniform. The feelings rising in his heart were a mixture of jealousy, envy, regret, and melancholy—a chaotic brew of emotions. In just two years, a clear gap had formed between them: one was a promising officer with a bright future, while the other was merely a "lapdog" to a spoiled scion.

Thinking of this, the usually stoic expression on Tatu's face twitched.

"Tatu Jones, why are you here?" Pedia dismounted and asked, while surveying the battlefield around him.

"Going home," Tatu replied, his response brief to the point of stinginess.

Pedia nodded, understanding. There was indeed a shortcut through the Saigon District to Tatu's hometown, though the terrain was treacherous. Having assessed the situation, Pedia asked, "When did you arrive in the Saigon District? And what else do you know about this riot?"

"I’ve been here five days," Tatu knew he was being questioned by a military official, so no matter how much he disliked Pedia, he had to answer. "The riot started on the night of the fourth day. Everything from Saw-toothed Rats to Flame Tigers has mutated. The village militia led most of the beasts into the mines to be buried by explosives, and the remainder are what you see here."

Pedia nodded. Before he could speak further, a guard brought over a trembling old man—the former village chief.

Upon seeing Pedia, the old man shook violently. He dropped to his knees, leaning on his staff, and wept bitterly. "My Lord, you must save us! This is the third village the beasts have destroyed! They are like demons—they tear apart everything that breathes! My Lord, you must avenge the three hundred souls lost in our village!"