15 CHAPTER 15: THE SERPENT'S LAIR RAID (2)

I and Jeanne arrived at the Vanguard's courtyard right around the time when everyone was gathered to get briefed by the squad leaders, namely Owen and Zhang.

Most of them were wearing armors from head-to-toe with their weapon of choice strapped to their sides or backs. Some of them were busy loading the carts and the donkeys. A few horses were tied to the carts by the soldiers.

"Hey, Jeanne. Are those animals going to be okay out there? They're going to need lots of food, especially the horses. We can't let them graze, can we?" I asked while I took two helmets from the supply box and handed one to Jeanne.

"They're going to be okay. Surprisingly, monsters usually don't attack animals. They only attack those with mana. So, we can let the horses graze when it's time for us to rest. But don't worry, we will also bring some hay just in case we can't find a good plot of land for them to graze." She explained to me and put on her helmet.

"Hmm... I see..." I put my hand on my chin.

"Actually, our ancestors had tried training the animals to fight monsters, but it ended in a horrible manner," she continued, "the monsters can only be injured by magic, so as you can imagine, it turned into a one-way slaughter by the monsters..."

"That's horrible..." I frowned. What are these creatures? Where did they come from, and why did they only target those with mana?

"Heyyy! Little cub! Jean-jean! I've come to pick you up!"

We turned around towards the source of the annoyingly cheerful voice, and found... A tiger?

"What are you waiting for? Come on, hop on!" General Zhang said.

"What the hell are you doing, riding a humongous tiger!?" I stepped back in shock.

There he was, general Zhang, sitting on top of the biggest tiger I've ever seen in my life. It was probably around 2 or 3 times bigger than a normal tiger. How did it get this big? Evolution? Steroids?

"Hey, he has a name, y'know! It's Timmy!" General Zhang replied.

"Oh my god, why did you name it Timmy?" I was shocked, but now I was horrified.

"Doesn't 'Timmy the tiger' sound cute? Tee-hee!" He said.

"No."

"General Zhang likes to bring his... Pet, especially on raids." Jeanne calmly explained to me.

"Why not horses? How will it keep up with us? What about its food? Where did you even get it?" I confusedly bombarded them with questions.

"Eh, I like my ride fast. He's a special boy, he's faster than the other tigers and horses. Don't worry too much, all you need to know is that I'm filthy rich~" He hummed, "now, get on. He doesn't bite."

'ROAR!!'

The tiger bared its fangs towards us.

"...Are you sure it doesn't bite?" I asked.

'Ding!'

[Passive skill: 'Animal's Beloved' is reacting strongly towards the being in front of you]

Thank god I chose that skill.

The tiger inched closer towards me, and took a few sniffs before licking my face a few times, earning a surprised yelp from me. Hey, he was pretty cute when he was not looking for a kill.

"Oh~? It seems like Timmy fancies you!" General Zhang stroked his chin.

"Are you sure it's... Ehm... 'He' is safe for riding?" Now I felt like a douche for calling Timmy, 'it'.

--------

We marched on towards the north as planned. It had probably been a few hours since we departed in the morning, and the sun had just almost reached its highest.

"Jeanne, was the outside world always this barren?" I asked, looking out towards the horizon as I sat with her and general Zhang on Timmy's back.

For the few hours that we had been here, I hardly saw enough plantations and wildlife. It wasn't to the point of wasteland, but it was just strange. I thought a place without humans roaming around would flourish with nature. Was there something else going on?

"Ah, now that you mention it, it wasn't this bad during my childhood..." Jeanne told me.

"Prepare to engage!" Owen's voice suddenly reverberated throughout the plains, and the entire squad immediately shifted into positions, with the supply cart positioned in the middle, protected from any attacks.

Meanwhile, the three of us stayed on top of Timmy in front of the squad.

"Hey... Why are we on the front?" I asked general Zhang.

"Hm? To get the first kill, of course." He replied nonchalantly.

"What do you--"

Before I could reply, a sudden ball of water grazed my cheek right as I threw my head to the side. If my reaction was only a few seconds late, my head would've been blasted with water.

We all turned towards the direction of the attack, and saw a group of alligators just a few kilometers away.

"Enemy spotted~" General Zhang grinned and licked his lips. His eyes locked on the water alligators.

"Timmy! Charge!" He commanded.

"Chaerin, hold on to me!" Jeanne quickly grabbed my hand and hugged me closer towards her.

"What!?"

'ROAR!!'

With a loud, thundering roar, Timmy leapt towards the alligators at full speed.

"UWAHH! You should've given us a warning before!" I shouted, trying to keep my balance while holding onto Jeanne tightly.

"Ugh, general Zhang is always acting on his own... Chaerin, prepare to land!" Jeanne alerted me.

"Okay!"

We both jumped down and rolled on the ground before immediately getting up again. General Zhang, on the other hand, was already splitting into bodies of water and bringing doom upon the nearest alligators.

"Let's go!" Jeanne ran towards them to join in.

I nodded and followed suit, firing my flame projectiles. Ideally, I would want to save my mana as much as possible and refrain from using my gun.

In no time, Owen's squad stormed the alligators, too. It didn't take long before the alligators were pushed back.

However, their number didn't seem to decrease that much. Most of them died at the hands of the generals, while the soldiers barely got some kills.

"...Status window."

[Stat points: (Water Alligator, rank 8)]

[Strength: 20]

[Intelligence: 30]

[Agility: 30]

[Physique: 70]

[Special buff: Serpent's blessing (increased resistance against physical-type and fire-type attacks)]

So that's why. These guys' physique is unfairly high, and on top of that, they have increased resistance against normal weapons... And sadly, my flame.

I got closer to one of them and fired a flame projectile on its face, so it would notice me.

'Kiiiek!'

It screeched loudly, and swung its tail towards me. I jumped to avoid getting hit, and made eye contact with it.

[Enemy: Water Alligator, rank 8]

[Weakness: its mana core is linked with its tongue]

It screeched loudly one more time, and opened its mouth in preparation to launch another water ball. I took this perfect opportunity to jump in and cut its tongue with my dagger.

"I did it-- ugh!"

I managed to cut the tongue, but its attack hit my stomach before I could move out of the way.

"Cough, cough!" I gripped my dagger tighter as my eyes darted towards its unmoving body.

"Now, what did Elias told me about confirming a monster's death...?" I dug through my memories during my time with him, before saying, "oh, right. If their mana core is destroyed, they're dead."

I stood up and sensed no mana coming from the limp alligator's body in front of me. Great. I got one kill.

"Watch out!" A soldier cried out towards his friend who was about to get bitten by a water alligator.

"Aghh!" His friend shrieked.

'BOOM!'

"Move, you idiot! Not scream!" I fired my flame projectile towards him, launching his body away from the alligator's open jaw.

"Oww!" He rubbed his flank, sore from getting hit by my attack.

"Don't complain. It's better than getting mauled by an alligator." I positioned myself in front of the alligator, and waited until it opened its mouth to fire again.

This time, I waited and dodged the water ball, and then jumped in to take its tongue.

"Phew. Thank god I didn't get hit this time around."

I glanced over my surroundings, and saw that many soldiers got injured, and the healers were busy healing them, including Hayun.

I wasted no time and looked around for Owen. Once I spotted him among the soldiers, I hurriedly ran to him.

"Owen! Tell them to cut those lizard's tongue! It's linked to their mana core!" I shouted as loud as I could while dodging another water ball.

"Are you positive!?" He shouted back, asking me.

"Yes! You don't have to trust me, but try it yourself!" I slashed another alligator's tongue off.

And as a general should, he tried it himself first, and after confirming it was true, he shouted to alert every soldier.

The battle went way smoother after that. As expected from the soldiers Owen picked himself. They didn't need to be spoon-fed. They knew how to handle themselves on the battlefield.

--------

'Kiiek!'

'Stab!'

Owen punctured the alligator's head all the way through from top to bottom, cutting its tongue and effectively killing the last one.

"Give me a report." He announced.

"Yes, sir! Out of 57 people, none died, around 20 people are badly hurt, and the number of people with minor injuries is unclear." A nearby soldier reported while saluting. I assumed he was the second-in-command?

"Tell the healers to get to work. Also, get me a precise number of the soldiers who can still walk. Dismissed." He concluded.

"Yes, sir!" The soldier saluted again and left to check on the others.

I let out a sigh after the battle was over. I managed to kill 6 of them. Pretty good, but still not enough for my quest.

It would be nice if I could hog the information just for myself and go on a rampage, but considering the losses that might happen, sharing the info was the best option. After all, the victory of the squad is more important than a personal victory, right?

"General Owen! Reporting, there are 32 people who are able to walk!" The second-in-command reported back.

Owen thought for a while before saying, "we rest here for now."

The soldier saluted him and gave instructions to everyone. Upon hearing the words, they began to scramble around and made themselves comfortable.

"Good decision." I approached him.

"I won't lead my soldiers into another unknown battlefield without much preparation. The serpent's soul can wait." He said. I respected him for that.

"Hey, little cub, look! I got 20-ish of them! I lost count midway, tee-hee!" General Zhang suddenly came up to me, fully coated in blood. Just not his own blood.

'ROAR!' Timmy also came forward, and dropped an alligator's severed claw in front of me.

"Uh... Thanks, Timmy... Good job." I praised him, earning a soft purr from the huge tiger.

How did this beast kill a monster without having mana? Did he get mana from somewhere?

"General Zhang, please refrain from doing as you please again." Jeanne calmly said, even though a hint of annoyance could be felt from her voice.

"It's okay~ It ended well, anyway." He shrugged it off.

"...Very well," she frowned, "I will go check on the soldiers." Jeanne turned around and left.

"Ah, I'll come along!" I said as I followed her.

We walked around the perimeter, monitoring the situation. The healers were actually doing a good job, and there weren't any enemies in sight. Most of the soldiers were resting, and things felt peaceful for a while. Great.

"Ah, it's so tough to fight on this heat!" A soldier said to his friend.

"Well, the sun is sitting right above us. What do you expect?" His friend replied while fanning his own face with his palm.

"This armor is so stuffy, too," he took off his helmet and wiped his sweat, "see? I'm sweating like crazy!"

I noticed this and approached him. A soldier shouldn't let his guard down on the battlefield, even for a second.

"Hey, you. You shouldn't take off your helmet while we're still on the battlefi--"

'Splat!'

The sight before my eyes was painted dark red.