Chapter 234: Thunderous Momentum

It was late into the night. Two sentries sat beside the campfire, quietly chatting. 

Not far from them, the six war wolves belonging to their squad were lying on the ground, resting. Their tails would occasionally twitch. They weren’t fully asleep. 

War wolves were known to be extremely fierce and alert creatures. This instinct came from their ancestors, who were tamed hundreds of years ago. Back then, they roamed the forests in packs, attacking anything in their path, making them more monsters than animals. Over centuries of domestication by elves and beastfolk, however, they had become more like pets, with many of their survival instincts significantly dulled.

But something in the air caught the wolves’ attention. A few of them lifted their heads. Their green eyes scanned the darkness. Seeing nothing suspicious, they let out soft whimpers, adjusted their positions, and rested their heads on their companions, preparing to return to sleep.

In the next instant, it was as if something violently invaded their minds. The sudden, excruciating pain jolted them from their slumber into a state of frenzy. All six wolves started thrashing wildly.

The two sentries jumped up in shock.

It wasn’t uncommon for war wolves from different squads to fight when grouped together. Male wolves, especially during mating season, often clashed violently. 

But this… this was something they had never witnessed before.

They shouted the war wolves’ names as they hurried towards them. They hopped to separate the fighting animals. But the wolves seemed to have completely lost their minds. Not only were they viciously tearing into each other, their bodies already bloodied and mangled, but they also lunged at the two men.

Their screams quickly alerted the rest of the camp. 

Even though bandit threats in the area had been dealt with long ago, the soldiers still maintained a basic level of alertness. Hearing the chaos outside, several men immediately grabbed their weapons and guarded the door, while others hastily began putting on their armor.

“How many enemies?” the squad leader called out loudly while fastening his breastplate.

With little time to spare, he wasn’t planning to suit up fully—just enough to rush out and assess the situation.

But the answer he received was strange. 

“No one… I don’t see anyone at all.”

The squad leader angrily shoved the men aside as he stormed toward the door, only to be startled by what he saw—or rather, what he didn’t see. There was indeed no sign of any intruders, not even any movement in the shadows.

In the flickering light of the campfire, all he could see were the war wolves writhing on the ground. Though it was unclear what had attacked them, it was evident that they had completely lost their ability to fight.

“Damn it!” he cursed under his breath.

In this mountainous region, the rebel wolfmen’s favorite weapon was the fire bottle cocktail, a tool that had already become popular with bandits across the land. In fact, it had caused significant trouble for Sentalus’s heavy infantry units. However, this time, whatever was being used outside clearly wasn’t a Molotov cocktail.

What could possibly disable six war wolves in an instant?

“Get the signal flare out!” the squad leader shouted. “We need to–”

A sharp, stabbing pain suddenly exploded in his head like needles piercing his skull. It felt as if someone had ripped open his skull and was violently stirring his brain with a knife. He couldn’t even finish his sentence or stay on his feet. He grabbed his head and collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony like a skinned rabbit.

The soldiers watched in horror. Then, the same searing pain erupted in their heads, rendering them utterly defenseless.

“Ling, lower us a bit,” Wu Qingsong said from above the camp, hovering in the air. “Liuli, get ready! Remember to leave those guys by the gate.”

The voice giving orders earlier had come from near the entrance, so the commander must be close by.

The airship created by Ling could just barely support the weight of the three of them, and the darkness concealed their approach. This allowed them to carry out what could only be described as a near-perfect ambush.

As the pod descended over the camp, Wu Qingsong lifted Liuli out of the cabin and awakened her latent potential.

The catgirl transformed midair. The moment the transformation was complete, she crashed through the roof, disappearing from Wu Qingsong and Ling’s sight.

“Let’s go down too,” Wu Qingsong said.

The airship continued its descent, and when it was just over two meters from the ground, the airbag suddenly vanished, transforming into Ling’s familiar giant boomerang. The pod touched down, but both of them had already prepared, landing lightly on the ground.

The war wolves were already in their final death throes. Wu Qingsong quickly ran to the entrance, disarming the three mastiff soldiers and withdrawing the soul fragments he had forcefully planted in their heads.

By then, Liuli had already killed the rest of the soldiers inside and rushed back to them. The mastiff soldiers, however, still hadn’t fully regained control of their bodies. The intense pain had temporarily rendered them unable to think clearly.

Wu Qingsong handed them over to Liuli and Ling for guarding, then ran to the campfire and grabbed a burning stick, waving it towards the distance. After a while, the rest of the team rushed back as quickly as they could.

“Interrogate them separately,” Wu Qingsong ordered.

As Beck and the others dragged two of the mastiff soldiers away, Daryl pulled out a dagger and advanced toward the remaining one.

The situation was even worse than they had imagined. 

The squad they had ambushed was just one of the units under a regiment responsible for sweeping the southern region of the Tecks Mountains. Their task was to track down and capture the wolfmen who had scattered to the surrounding areas during the previous assault. The regiment’s headquarters was located about twenty miles to the north, in a valley that might very well be the same one where Wu Qingsong and his group had once stayed.

In this operation, the Duchy of Sentalus had deployed an entire legion, over six thousand regular troops, and nearly two thousand war wolves, all drawn from the battle-hardened forces stationed at the Gates of Kahango to defend against insectoid invasions!

“When did you enter the Tecks Mountains?” Daryl asked, his voice trembling.

“A month ago,” the prisoner, who had been tortured for a long time and whose mental defenses had completely collapsed, replied without hesitation.

The entire population of the Silver Moon Wolf Clan in the Tecks Mountains was barely over thirty thousand, including many elderly, women, and children. It was clear that such a force was like smashing eggs with a sledgehammer. There was no chance of any meaningful resistance.

“Have you captured Nina Lams?” Wu Qingsong asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.

“Not yet,” the prisoner replied. “They escaped into the deeper parts of the Tecks Mountains. General Roderick and Lord Raman are leading four regiments to surround and hunt them down. They’ve already been forced into a very small area, and it’s only a matter of time before they’re caught.”