Chapter 443

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Chapter 443: The Great Contrary Wind

“Feeling nervous?”

“A little bit.”

“Are your hands shaking?”

“They’re trembling a bit.”

“Are you tired?”

“I am tired, I am tired!”

“Can you move your hand off my bottom?”

“I wanted to touch it earlier, but never had the chance. Now it’s almost gone, I must…”

“Go away!”

Small conflicts within the mercenary group were common. Tanis often turned a blind eye to such moments. If she didn’t, her patience might fray too quickly.

The group lay in wait in a narrow mountain pass, like the neck of a gourd—wide on both ends but perilously tight in the middle. This chokepoint was ideal for an ambush. The mercenaries had prepped the area with landmines and tripwires, their defenses ready to counter any aggressive assault.

The tripwires stretched between 100 to 500 meters, while landmines were placed even closer. Once triggered, they would cripple or kill enemy horses, hindering the cavalry’s momentum. But their supplies of explosives were limited, forcing them to be strategic.

“Leader, I see cavalry!”

“I heard it too,” Tanis responded, her voice sharp as she activated her eagle eye. Through the trees, the eagle shared its vision. She couldn’t determine the exact numbers, but the enemy seemed fewer than expected. Perhaps they had split up.

“No time to speculate. Load the bullets!”

“My big gun’s been itching for some action!”

“Let’s make this night worth remembering!”

The mercenaries hyped each other up, but their confidence wavered as a large dust cloud rose in the distance. The swirling dust reduced visibility to less than 100 meters. Then, a fierce gust of wind blew their way, bringing chaos closer.

“Damn it!” Tanis cursed. “They know battlefield spells too?”

Sandstorms and war fog were common tactics on the Europa battlefield. Such spells were often used to blind an enemy before launching an attack. Though thermal imaging goggles could counter these effects, their group had been stripped of such advanced gear. A few still had them, but for the rest, they needed a workaround.

“Eyes sharp!” Tanis barked.

Someone tossed a glowing device into the smoke. It erupted into a swirling storm, dispersing the dust and clearing their immediate line of sight. The eye of the storm scattered the enemy’s concealment spells, but relief was short-lived.

A sharp sound tore through the air, growing louder.

“Incoming spell!” someone yelled.

Before anyone could react, rocks and flames burst through the clearing, slamming into the narrow pass. The mercenaries were spread out, mitigating fatalities, but the impact was still devastating. The shockwaves left their ears ringing, their bodies battered. One soldier lost half an arm, screaming in agony.

“Return fire! Open fire!” Tanis shouted.

The mercenaries didn’t wait for orders. Gunfire erupted, meeting the cavalry’s charge. But this was no ordinary cavalry. Among them were supernatural beings, capable of launching deadly attacks from a distance—elite monsters wielding terrifying powers.

The battle intensified. Some light cavalry rode wolves or agile bipedal lizards, weaving through the forest like deadly predators. Tripwires slowed a few, detonating landmines that killed their mounts. Yet the riders themselves often survived, leaping toward the mercenaries with unnatural agility.

The first enemy broke through, using the trees for cover as bullets rained down. The creature lunged at a mercenary, slashing him in half with a curved sword. Blood sprayed as the dying soldier drove his dagger into the monster’s chest—a grim trade of life for life.

In minutes, the battlefield was awash in chaos and blood.

The lieutenant of the cavalry observed from a distance, growing impatient. His flanking team had yet to arrive, but he was done waiting.

“Enough delay!” he snarled, drawing his sword. “Charge forward! Kill them all! Heads are worth military merits!”

Thirty cavalrymen surged forward, trampling bodies and debris. Despite the mercenaries’ superior firepower and elevated position, their casualties mounted.

“Boss! We can’t hold on!”

“Medic! I’m still bleeding!”

“My backside’s stuck on a tree—someone help me get it back!”

Tanis felt despair creeping in as she watched the relentless advance.

“We have to retreat,” she muttered. “Or we’ll all die here.”

She ordered her group to fall back through the narrow passage. Injured mercenaries stayed behind, holding their ground to buy time. One soldier twisted the safety pin on a grenade, giving a final thumbs-up before detonating it.

Tanis pressed the detonator, triggering a massive explosion that collapsed the passage. Rocks and debris rained down, crushing the first wave of enemy soldiers. The shockwave flung her backward, and blood trickled from her mouth as she hit the ground.

“Move! Now!” she shouted weakly, clutching her chest.

But the cavalry was relentless. Agile riders scaled the collapsed rubble, positioning themselves above the retreating mercenaries. From their vantage point, they prepared for a devastating charge.

The lieutenant grinned, relishing his impending victory. “No survivors,” he murmured, raising his sword.

Then it happened.

A tiger’s roar shattered the night.

Both humans and monsters froze as the sound echoed through the valley.

From the moonlit forest emerged a colossal tiger, its body towering over three meters tall. Blood dripped from its jaws, and its piercing eyes glowed in the darkness.

It carried a black fox and a wolf in its mouth, their lifeless bodies swaying as it walked. The tiger’s presence exuded raw, primal power, and it moved with the grace of a ruler patrolling its domain.

Against the wind, it strode forward, a harbinger of something far greater than the battle unfolding below.