The Leader

The battle began with the Fifth-Generation General-Purpose Heavy Armament. Its pilot brazenly fired a Heavy Rocket Launcher round into the densest cluster of dogs, creating a brilliant orange fireball.

Searing heat washed through the air. Even from more than three hundred meters away, Tianyang felt as though his hair might catch fire.

Cheers rose from the convoy's defensive line. There was no denying it-the shell's power was a tremendous boost to morale. Two-thirds of the pack were wiped out outright, and the remaining Mad Dogs staggered under the blast's shock wave.

Only after a long moment did they resume their charge, only to be met by Heavy Machine Cannons.

Two mechanical arms raised the twin Heavy Machine Cannons mounted behind the Three-Dimensional Armament, aimed their barrels at the Mad Dogs, and unleashed a furious roar.

Spent casings the size of a child's fist fell to the ground in an unbroken stream, their dense clattering ringing in everyone's ears.

Whenever a charging Mad Dog was hit, its entire body burst apart. Even if its will cage somehow escaped destruction, its mangled body could only twitch helplessly on the ground, posing no threat to the defensive line.

In the end, the entire pack of Mad Dogs was wiped out by the Fifth-Generation Armament's firepower in less than two minutes.

"That's incredible..." said a girl with a slightly round face, soft features, and a lingering air of youth. She was a newcomer to the Gray Pigeon Squad and had only taken part in two missions so far.

Beside her, the bald woman, Lida, glanced calmly at the Fifth-Generation Armament. "Two minutes, and roughly two thousand contribution points' worth of ammunition. If it couldn't even take down a single pack of dogs, everyone in the armament research lab might as well resign in disgrace."

The new girl stuck out her tongue, unable to believe that two thousand contribution points had been spent in the blink of an eye.

She had earned only eight hundred contribution points from her two missions combined!

The machine cannons stopped roaring, but there was still no chance to breathe easy. More shadows appeared ahead. Then packs of dogs appeared on both flanks as well.

There were four or five packs, each still around a hundred strong, charging from different directions.

This time, the packs had learned their lesson. The monsters spread out and advanced in staggered waves, surging toward the defensive line like a gray flood!

Lida's voice came over everyone's communicators. "Fifth-Generation Armament, engage the front. Everyone else, deal with the packs on the flanks. Gunners, get ready. Put your Star Essence Shells into the densest clusters wherever possible. We're still a long way from finishing the mission, so don't burn through all your ammunition here!"

Under the gunners' control, the Star Essence Energy Heavy Cannons on several Falcon combat vehicles turned in different directions, spreading their coverage as widely as possible.

When the Fifth-Generation Armament's heavy machine cannons roared again, the energy cannons also began to hum as they charged. Then a blue sphere of light streaked across the battlefield like a meteor and landed among the dogs.

The sphere burst, sending rings of rippling energy spreading outward. As those flowing, waterlike ripples swept over them, the charging Mad Dogs suddenly froze. Then their bodies fell apart, along with the will cages inside them, breaking into uniform particles a centimeter across.

Moments later, the soldiers' rifles and the other Ascenders skilled in ranged attacks joined the battle.

Before the defensive line, gunfire, cannon fire, and abilities wove a dense, dazzling web of firepower that stopped the vast majority of the Mad Dogs.

The occasional straggler that slipped through was left to the Ascenders, including Tianyang.

With his Particle Warblade in hand, Tianyang lowered his center of gravity slightly and stared tensely ahead.

Suddenly, a dark shape burst through the web of firepower. It was a male dog, charging straight at Tianyang.

The young man could see its humanlike head and the madness overflowing from its bloodred eyes.

The Mad Dog leaped, clawing down at him from above.

Tianyang's mind went blank. Driven by instinct, his body rolled beneath the Mad Dog.

His Particle Warblade traced a pitch-black arc, shearing away most of the Mad Dog's four limbs. Even after landing, the monster kept snapping wildly. Then it scrabbled with its severed limbs and actually began crawling toward Tianyang.

A gleaming longsword plunged down through the top of the Mad Dog's head and emerged beneath its jaw.

With another twist, the red glow in the Mad Dog's eyes began to fade.

Planting a foot on the dog's corpse, the sword's owner pulled the weapon free and pointed at their own head. "These things have their cages under their skulls. Either cut the head off or pierce the cage directly. Got it?"

Tianyang nodded. "Thanks for the lesson."

The fighting was fierce but brief. Five minutes later, the battle was nearly over. Just as the humans were about to claim victory, screams and cries of agony suddenly rang out from the plaza behind them.

Tianyang had just beheaded a Mad Dog. Amid the chaos, he glanced back and saw more Mad Dogs in the plaza behind the defensive line. One female had just detonated the tumor bomb beneath its ribs, blasting itself apart and splashing poisonous fluid over several Recovery Team members.

The fluid was clearly corrosive. In moments, it ate through their protective suits. Several male dogs charged into the crowd, biting anyone they saw and throwing the Recovery Team and Medical Team into chaos.

A familiar figure appeared in Tianyang's sight: Xun. She was running toward the defensive line, but a man fleeing blindly behind her shoved her to the ground. Worse still, a male dog was charging at her from behind, foul saliva dripping from its jaws.

Faint light drifted down from between his strands of hair. The world in Tianyang's eyes became a stream of light and shadow, and the figures of Xun and the Mad Dog rapidly grew larger.

Finally, in the faceplate of the girl's helmet, Tianyang saw his own body wreathed in a hazy silver glow, and his Particle Warblade becoming a waterfall of black light as it slashed down at the male dog's head!

The Mad Dog's hard skull could not slow the blade in the slightest. Tianyang split its head and the front half of its body with a single stroke. Still connected by strands of flesh, its body opened like an enormous red flower and fell limply to the ground. The blood gushing from it flowed silently past the young man's feet.

Tianyang turned and pulled Xun up. "Are you all right?"

Xun shook her head.

Tianyang pointed toward the defensive line ahead. "Get over there. Hurry."

Then he ran toward his next target, blade in hand.

The bald woman overseeing the battlefield and directing the battle witnessed it all. "Does the War God Class have that kind of speed?"

Surprise flashed through Lida's eyes. Then she shouted, "These bastards are coordinating their attacks! There must be a leader among the packs. Someone find it!"

No sooner had she finished than a Hunter Class Ascender called out, "Commander, one o'clock, eight hundred meters out!"

The bald woman snatched up a pair of binoculars and looked in the direction the Hunter had indicated.

A demon appeared in her field of view.

It was a larger, mutated Mad Dog!

It looked as though a male and a female dog had been stitched together.

Its head, for instance, was half male and half female.

It had two forelegs and four hind legs, with dark red skin. Along both sides of its body, grayish-white ribs curled outward to form armor.

Three clusters of short, jet-black bone spikes grew from its hunched back. Lida would have bet anything they were not merely decorative.

Through the binoculars, she saw the huge dog opening and closing its mouth as though roaring. Then several male dogs nearby trotted away, seemingly carrying out their leader's orders.

Lowering the binoculars, Lida gritted her teeth. "Fifth-Generation Armament, fire a round in that direction!"

"Yes, ma'am!"