Free Web NovelChapter 195: Aerial Investigation
After dealing with Count Baker, Celestina swiftly returned to the Herald City Garrison, arriving just in time to rendezvous with the Spirit Initiate reinforcements from Redwood Town.
"General!" Commander Clark called out from atop Starlight, "We spotted the enemy approaching the north-west of the city on our approach but decided not to engage lest we cause the beasts to scatter."
Vanessa’s concern was a reasonable one, seeing how the defences of Herald City were both limited and disorganized. Having the Beast Tide concentrate all its strength in one location was also dangerous, but it at least allowed the humans to also concentrate their forces in response.
Even so, the General had other ideas, so she quickly hopped onto Sir Green’s Golden Hawk and called out, "We’re launching a pre-emptive strike. Follow my lead!"
Celestina’s plan was to use her strongest forces to blunt the enemy’s momentum, thus buying more time for the defenders on the ground to prepare while also searching for whatever beast was organizing and directing the horde towards Herald City.
This would require some finesse, as striking too softly wouldn’t produce any results, while striking too hard would lead to the situation Commander Clark had initially been worrying about. However, Celestina was confident her subordinates could pull this delicate operation off.
.....
The first part of the plan actually went quite smoothly, with Celestina and 5 Spirit Initiates pelting the area ahead of the Beast Tide with arrows from above. The enemy’s advance was slowed as the weaker beasts suddenly became frightened, but it wasn’t enough to cause them to flee just yet.
Celestina then signaled her strike force to split up and sweep over the horde.
They were able to accomplish this with relative ease thanks to there not being any flying beasts among the enemy, but as they were conducting their search for the suspected mastermind, the situation suddenly took an unexpected turn.
A loud series of howls rang out shortly after Celestina began flying low over the horde, the eerie cries seemingly coming from all around her.
Then, in the next instant, dozens of rocks, fist-sized and bigger, came hurtling towards her.
While these stones posed no threat to an Adept like her, the Golden Hawk she was riding was only a Fourth Order Beast, so if it was struck in a bad spot, it might very well fall from the sky, dropping Celestina right in the middle of the Beast Tide.
The Spirit Initiate Commanders accompanying Celestina were subjected to the same danger and were forced to gain altitude while performing evasive maneuvers.
Only after climbing to a height of over 500 metres did the rocks from below cease to be a threat.
Finally, having the chance to do so, the assault team peered down below and quickly spotted a couple hundred bi-pedal beasts, monkeys, gorillas, and other such species, scattered throughout the horde, all still throwing rocks up in their general direction.
Using her powerful Soul Sense and Spirit Qi, Celestina sent her voice to the other Spirit Initiates and called for them to gather close.
Once they were close enough to communicate verbally, Celestina asked, "What do you all think?"
"There’s no way so many different species of Wild Beasts could coordinate like this without some powerful entity leading them," Vanessa Clark immediately commented.
"I agree," another Spirit Initiate chimed in, "This stampede is far to organized for it to have been a natural occurrence. They’re even using tactics, simple as they may seem."
"The howls we heard right before the rocks started flying are also suspicious," a third Spirit Initiate spoke up, "They sounded random, but the timing is too coincidental. There was clearly some kind of order conveyed through those cries."
"Did anyone spot which beasts let out those howls?" Celestina asked.
Silence fell over the small group, but Celestina wasn’t too surprised. Between their side’s opening attack and the time the rocks started flying at them, less than a minute had passed.
With dozens of attacks from below being aimed at each of them, it was only natural that the Spirit Initiates had been more focused on evading rather than probing the enemy.
After a brief moment, however, one of the Spirit Initiates who hadn’t spoked so far hesitantly said, "I can’t be certain, but I think I caught a glimpse of one of the howling beasts. I couldn’t quite tell, however, because its body was so dark it seemed to blend in with the shadows."
"How did you spot it, then?" Vanessa asked curiously.
"Well, as the first rocks started flying, I noticed a distinctive pair of blood-red eyes staring at me from below, and the howls I heard just a moment before definitely came from that direction," the male Spirit Initiate replied.
"Blending in with the shadows? Red eyes?" Celestina’s attention was immediately captured by her subordinate’s description and promptly questioned, "Was that beast four-legged?"
"I believe so."
"Did it look similar to a wolf?"
"I’m not sure..."
From the bits and pieces of information she managed to gather, Celestina had an idea about what enemy they were facing, but she couldn’t be sure, It’ll be risky, but we need to investigate further.
Having made a decision, Celestina ordered, "We need to make another low pass over the horde. We’ll perform a rapid dive, pick up some speed, then split up and fly out past the enemy lines. Your main objective is to search for any of these red-eyed, black furred, four-legged beasts. If you spot one and have a clean shot, take it out, but prioritize your own safety above eliminating the enemy. Once you clear the horde, head back towards the city. We’ll regroup at the north-western gate."
"You heard the General! Make ready!" Vanessa shouted, taking charge as she had the most experience in leading aerial operations.
Signaling for the others to follow her, Vanessa urged Starlight upwards, gaining another couple hundred metres in an ascending spiral, gradually widening the circle she was flying around while accelerating. After completing 5 such revolutions, she swung her arm down and whipped the reigns hard, commanding her Golden Hawk to turn into a nosedive.
As the wind rushed past her face, Vanessa clenched her legs tight, stabilizing herself atop her mount, and pulled her bow from her saddle.
Nocking an arrow, Commander Clark swept her eyes and Soul Sense over the rapidly approaching ground, trying to spot the red-eyed beasts General Balfour had mentioned.
Dropping to just 100 metres above the ground, Vanessa kicked hard, ordering Starlight to level-off and fly straight.
Due to downward momentum, Starlight sank another 50 metres before he stopped falling, leaving both him and his rider vulnerable to the beast horde’s anti-air attacks.
Immediately, stones came flying towards Vanessa, but with the speed she and Starlight were moving at, these hastily thrown rocks posed little threat and most of them passed a fair distance behind the pair as they accelerated outwards.
*Pang!*
Vanessa loosed an arrow from her bow, sending a deadly shot towards a red-eyed wolf-like creature. This beast was unusually large for a creature in the Third Order, but it was still quite difficult to spot among the thousands of others beasts, especially given its pitch-black fur which camouflaged it nearly perfectly on this moonless night. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Even at such high speeds, Vanessa, a veteran marksman and expert in aerial combat, hit her mark, splattering the wolf’s body and killing several other beasts which just happened to be in the path of her arrow.
After taking out this beast, though, more howls rang up from all over the horde and more rocks came soaring towards her, forcing Vanessa to focus on evasion rather than attacking.
It was a good 3 minutes of weaving flight before Vanessa cleared the rear of the Beast Tide.
On such a dark night, after flying such an erratic path, it normally would have been difficult even for Commander Clark to re-orient herself, but spotting Herald City was actually quite easy right now seeing how the walls were lit up by a multitude of torches and Spirit Lamps.
Given her position, Vanessa knew she couldn’t fly directly back and instead had to detour around the horde, but with Starlight’s speed, she estimated she could still return in less than 10 minutes.
As she circled the perimeter of the Beast Tide, giving the enemy a wide berth, Vanessa kept her eyes peeled for any more of the red-eyed wolves. During her low pass, she had actually spotted 3 such beasts, including the one she killed; all of them in the Third Order.
Although such beasts could be considered a menace to ordinary mortals, they didn’t seem that threatening to her, nor were such weak creatures capable of controlling such a vast army of beasts, so she couldn’t help wondering why her old mentor seemed so concerned with them.
Nevertheless, if Celestina Balfour considered them a problem, Vanessa would naturally pay close attention.
Sure enough, on her way back to the city, Vanessa spotted another 3 such beasts, again in the Third Order, before she passed the horde.
A quick estimate put the enemy at just 3 kilometres from the walls now, and as Vanessa got closer to the gates, she noticed that there was still a large crowd of civilian refugees scrambling to get inside the city, with more people still running in from the makeshift camps that were further away.
This sight caused Vanessa to frown deeply, as she realized that the evacuation wouldn’t be completed in time. She wanted to turn around and re-engage the enemy in order to buy more time, but despite their best efforts to keep it contained in their initial assault, it seemed the horde had already begun to spread out.
Launching another frontal assault now would only cause the stampede to splinter, making the subsequent defence of the city far more difficult, risking even more lives.
Save a few now while risking more later, or sacrifice a few now to save more later?
It was an unenviable decision.
However, as a Commander and Vice-General, Vanessa Clark was familiar with making life-and-death decisions, so she quickly assessed the situation before urging Starlight towards the city walls. The best thing she could do now was to join the defenders on the ground to hold the enemy back.
Hopefully, by standing together with the others on the city walls, she could save a few more lives before having to make that terrible choice.
