As her wings beat, the two lumps of rotten flesh on the Bat Woman's chest swayed with them. There was nothing beautiful about the sight-it was utterly revolting.
With a single swoop, she snatched up a female slave. The poor Demihuman struggled and screamed, but no one could save her. Moments later, the Bat Woman tore the slave in half. Blood rained down, drawing cries of horror, while the Bat Woman let out a strange, mocking laugh.
"Shoot that ugly bitch to pieces!" Field roared in fury.
Field did not need to say another word. The enraged archers and crossbowmen immediately raised their weapons. A volley cracked out, showering the Bat Woman with bolts and arrows. She had not expected the humans to have ranged weapons and paid for it at once. Three or four arrows struck her, and she crashed to the ground like a tattered rag.
"That ugly thing dared attack my subjects! I paid good money for every one of them!"
Seething, Field grabbed a halberd from a wagon. Forgetting all noble decorum, he swung it in a full arc and smashed the Bat Woman's head to pulp.
Killing the Bat Woman had thrown the flank into disarray. With no arrows or bolts holding them back, a mass of Corpse Ghouls immediately lunged forward.
"Everyone, get out of the way!"
Ashina immediately channeled her power. The black scales on the Dragon-Breed Wolf's neck began to hiss and smoke as terrifying energy gathered, warping even the space around it.
Boom!
An eerie blue blaze erupted from the wolf's jaws. Heat surged like a river bursting through a dam, and blue flames engulfed a vast stretch of ground in front of Field. The twisted figures were swallowed by fire in moments. Field even felt that much of the surrounding Gray Fog had dispersed.
"Too hot!" The guards were all wearing armor, and at such close range, it heated up like a griddle. They grimaced and cried out in pain. The Corpse Ghouls' foul blood dried in the heat, caking their armor.
Ashina stuck out her tongue. "Sorry."
The sustained flames wiped out a great swarm of Corpse Ghouls, leaving too few to pose a threat. The group successfully held off the first wave.
Three slaves and one slave guard had died. Acceptable losses.
"Rest here for half an hour. Women, go collect the arrows."
Field took a waterskin from the butler and gulped down several mouthfuls. Only the sting of cold water against his throat brought him back to his senses and made him feel he was still in the real world.
"It's all thanks to you, Ashina." Field reached out and ruffled her hair. Ashina blushed, her wolf tail spinning like a propeller, as though she might take off on the spot.
Ashina bobbed her head and feigned modesty. "I was only doing what I should."
But her expression said: (˵¯͒〰¯͒˵)
Keep praising me! Don't stop!
No wonder the Northern Frontier Province is called the Cursed Land. If the original owner of this body had come here-no, without Ashina's help, even I probably wouldn't last long.
Fear lingered in Field, but he quickly shook off those negative feelings. He spotted new markers approaching his position: a cluster of red exclamation marks.
"Those markers... more monsters? No, their formation is far too orderly, and there are exactly nineteen of them." Field frowned slightly. After a moment's thought, he called Ashina over and pointed ahead. "Go hide in the Gray Fog and set up an ambush. Be ready to act as needed."
Cavalry captain Connor and his men were also advancing through the Gray Fog.
"This Mist-Driving Lamp looks like it's about to go out. Damn it, why does that idiot baron get such a big lamp while ours is so tiny? The second young lady is too stingy. She wants the donkey to work but won't even give it a carrot."
"Shut up, you stupid ass! Your big mouth will draw the Corpse Ghouls here." The man beside him cursed nervously.
"I feel like something ran around behind us," an alert cavalryman said. Lance in hand, he looked deeply uneasy. "We should have found a chance to kill Baron Field before entering the Northern Frontier Province, not now."
"You think I didn't want to?" Connor said helplessly. "Openly murdering a noble would be enough to send every one of us to the gallows."
That was why they had said goodbye to Field earlier, then circled back. They needed an alibi.
Soon, Connor's cavalry picked up Field's trail. The fresh foul blood and corpses on the ground were the best possible guide.
There was no hiding the trail of more than two hundred people.
"Brothers, kill Field first. Then charge back and forth through the slaves and seize their Mist-Driving Lamp. The Gray Fog will kill everyone soon enough."
Connor's plan was flawless.
Once they had formed up for a lance charge, the men urged their warhorses into a trot.
"I can already picture Field begging for mercy in terror!" Connor licked the corner of his mouth and laughed without restraint.
Yet the moment he saw Field, his smile froze.
Thirty fully armored guards stood in defensive formation, shields raised and halberds braced. Their gleaming halberds, along with the Corpse Ghouls' foul blood and entrails smeared across their armor, made it clear they were not to be trifled with.
Field stood behind the wagon barricade. Two ranks of archers and crossbowmen had already readied their weapons, poised to fire on Connor's cavalry at a single command. They might lack professional training, but even a three-year-old could fire a crossbow and easily punch through an adult's body.
"Damn it! They spotted us." Connor stared dumbly, feeling like a clown.
"How is this possible? Isn't Field a coward with no backing? Where did he get these guards?"
The cavalrymen stirred uneasily. A surprise attack without the surprise was a joke.
Were they supposed to charge their horses into heavy-armored halberdiers already in formation? Or crash into that damned wagon barricade?
"Retreat!"
Connor yanked hard on the reins. His warhorse whinnied and wheeled around, its hooves dancing.
Roar!
An enormous black wolf, over two meters tall and as powerfully built as a bear, appeared behind the warhorse, startling it into a stumble.
Connor was thrown from his horse, terrified out of his wits.
"Damn it!"
Before he could retrieve his weapon, a spear pressed against Connor's throat. An exquisitely beautiful wolf Demihuman stared down at him with an almost amused look. Connor knew that any movement meant certain death.
Worse still, she had taken his Mist-Driving Lamp.
"That's the fucking slave Field bought!"
Connor immediately remembered the slave Field had insisted on buying.
She could move freely through the Gray Fog without a Mist-Driving Lamp.
The men were dumbstruck. Goddess above! What rotten luck had led them to run into a Chosen One?
Who the hell could have imagined that Field would have a Chosen One? Had they known, they would not have come even for ten thousand gold coins.
"Oh? Captain Connor, what are you doing here? You gave me quite a fright." Field did not immediately order their deaths. His eyes shifted slyly before he adopted the casual tone of someone greeting an old friend. "Were you worried I wouldn't arrive at my post on time? Rest assured, expanding the family's territory is a noble's duty."
"Uh..." Connor was at a loss for words. Caught between life and death, his mind had frozen.
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