Chapter 38: Ninth Fortress Part 2

Sole logistics fighter like the Vanguard Team, Heidi was top support. On the Wasteland, no vehicle she couldn’t drive; short of Swamp or Strong Radiation Zone, no terrain unreachable.

While Ide and An He hunted precisely, Heidi ferried four Thorn Lamps, pursuing Sora with purpose. No blind barrages into foes—Sora outprioritized dozens.

Speed blistering, ride steady; Heidi gripped the wheel so her perch-mates could steady sniper rifles.

The goggle-wearing Little Squirrel perched on controls, paws mashing reload buttons madly.

Dozens of low-arc shells launched, trailing smoke to smash the target twenty meters ahead.

…

Tina sensed fierce hostility. War’s start, an armored car rammed her from the circle.

No one could truly go toe-to-toe with a vehicle head-on. She clambered onto an intact armored car and sped south along the boundary line of the Strong Radiation Zone. The vehicles behind her gave relentless chase, their shells nearly clipping her tires, which filled her with seething frustration. Ammo meant for striking the enemy was now being turned against her—utterly ridiculous!

One twist after another fueled her rage. She realized Ide had been prepared all along. Despite their careful calculations, they had blundered straight into Ide’s trap. Damn it.

The ones pursuing her from behind were all low-tier Thorn Lamp fighters—no Ide, no Asta. The only one she vaguely remembered was that mechanic called Heidi.

As expected of a general who’d survived the battlefield for over twenty years, Sora dodged the incoming fire, wrenched the steering wheel hard, and fiddled with the controls one-handed. A mechanical screech echoed from the roof as the turret swiveled, locking onto the trailing vehicles.

She slammed the firing button without hesitation. In the instant of the explosion, Tina caught sight in the rearview mirror of the pursuing car lurching, one figure struck and tumbling off. She floored the accelerator, planning to swing around.

The moment she turned, a hail of munitions rained down. The rear armor plating exploded clean off, completely sealing her escape.

Tina glanced at the black fog beside the vehicle. These small fry were tenacious; she had no time to waste on them. She needed to return to the battlefield and take command.

Moments later, she adjusted her face mask, her expression darkening as she made her decision. She stomped the accelerator and plunged into the Strong Radiation Zone without a second thought.

“She’s insane!” Heidi pounded the steering wheel and slammed on the brakes. There was no way they could follow Tina into the Strong Radiation Zone—that place wasn’t fit for humans. Losing your bearings in the black fog was a death sentence.

Heidi immediately whipped her vehicle around, driving along the boundary line back to the battlefield.

Tina felt the thick fog envelop her, its particles writhing like living entities in the air, seeping into her skin and burrowing into her brain. Dizziness hit her fast; she lost all sense of direction. Though it felt like she was driving straight, the vehicle soon veered off course.

Tina didn’t panic. This wasn’t her first time entering a Strong Radiation Zone.

As a child, she’d been trained for a year as part of an “exploration team.” Of course, that team had long since been disbanded, not a soul left—that was ancient history from twenty years ago.

Tina clenched the steering wheel and finally activated her Innate Talent. She turned her powerful Mental Imprisonment ability inward, freezing her mental energy in place. If mental energy was like flowing data streams, her talent was a hard drive, a sealed box to contain it.

She rarely used her talent; mental abilities weren’t very effective against Bone Eaters. But unleashed on enemies, it became an inescapable cage.

Turned on herself, it fortified her mind against instability.

Tina’s awareness sharpened quickly. She corrected the vehicle’s course and floored it. Even with her exceptional talent, she couldn’t linger long in the Strong Radiation Zone—its eerie perils defied human limits.

She heard the distant thunder of artillery, gauging her distance to the battlefield.

It was close. She hadn’t strayed far; only about five minutes had passed since Ide left the High Wall.

Tina planned to burst out of the Strong Radiation Zone. But the next second she twisted the wheel, a motorcycle erupted from the black fog, skimming alongside her hood before hurtling toward the windshield.

Crack! After a faint sound, the glass spiderwebbed into countless shards, teetering precariously. Tina looked up to see a boot planted on the fracturing pane above her head.

Someone was on the bike.

The rider eased the motorcycle back slightly, peering down with a smile devoid of warmth. “So that’s your Innate Talent. Well hidden.”

Tina stared at the familiar face in shock. She thought this woman was dead.

Before she could react, the black muzzle of a gun leveled at the driver’s seat.

The shot rang out as the brakes were stomped hard. The car lurched forward from momentum, nearly flinging Tina from her seat—but it saved her. The seat exploded in a puff of stuffing. Amid the flying fibers, Tina drew her pistol.

But the motorcycle above revved to life. The foot withdrew to the bike’s peg, and it sped over the roof and away.

Tina leaned out the window, but the pitch-black fog closed in, visibility zero. Soon, even the engine’s roar faded.

If not for the cracked windshield, she’d have dismissed it as a Strong Radiation Zone hallucination.

Tina froze for a moment, then snapped back to clarity. Though the woman she’d crossed paths with once seemed intent on luring her deeper into the fog, Tina abandoned the chase. She gunned the engine toward the battlefield.

It was the right call.

The instant she burst from the fog, she spotted her own forces withdrawing from the fray—and at their center, No. 55.

She also saw No. 55’s arm mangled by shrapnel, and at that moment, Ide’s long arrow streaking straight for No. 55’s head.

Tina bellowed, “Regroup! Reform ranks! No. 1, advance!”

A massive white tiger dropped from the sky, clamping its jaws around the arrow shaft a split-second before it kissed No. 55’s forehead and detonated. The beast landed amid the troops, glaring ferociously at Ide in the distance.

That was Tina’s nestsoul.

…

An He wiped blood from her lips and peered over Crewcut Sis’s shoulder. The enemy commander Sora had returned.

Damn it—they’d been one step from killing the Golden Monkey.

“Commander!” An He called to Ide nearby. “Be careful!”

She’d heard Sora’s order—everyone had. The commander’s voice boomed like a tiger’s roar, and the remaining forces swiftly reorganized.

An He’s shoulder blade and ribs throbbed faintly, shattered by Crewcut Sis’s raw power.

Likewise, her opponent looked like she’d crawled from hell, drenched in blood from the wounds An He had inflicted.

Neither had killed the other yet, but An He felt unease. To this point, her foe hadn’t used her Innate Talent.

No one lacks a talent.

The next instant confirmed An He’s fears. As Sora issued the regroup order, Crewcut Sis’s eyes flickered subtly.

She didn’t look at An He—instead, her gaze locked on Ide, ten meters away. In that heartbeat, the Golden Eagle screeched, ignoring the Raven’s dive to charge Ide’s Tundra Wolf.

Simultaneously, Sora’s White Tiger, some unknown Lynx, and the Leopard all surged toward Ide.

They were still targeting Ide!

An He triggered Shatterblade Time instantly, drawing her blade and charging to intercept—but she realized her speed hadn’t increased. Or rather, no one else’s time had slowed.

An He whipped her head toward Crewcut Sis. Now she understood the talent Sora had called “No. 1”!

Within a twenty-meter radius, every Thorn Lamp talent fizzled out in an instant. That was No. 1’s ability.

What chilled An He more: the enemies’ talents flowed unimpeded. For a dazed moment, she thought No. 1’s power distinguished friend from foe. But talents weren’t like nestsouls—they couldn’t act independently. They were tools, blunt instruments, lacking such precision.

Only when Sora subtly lifted her gaze did An He realize: this commander’s talent was mental too. Sora and No. 1 complemented each other—one shielded allies, the other suppressed foes.

At this rate, the battlefield would become a one-sided slaughter.

That was the peril of the unknown.

Fortunately, Ide had eliminated most of their heavy hitters. Otherwise, six unchecked Embedded Spirit Bodies would wreak unimaginable havoc.

And thankfully, the nestsouls could still move.

An He narrowed her eyes. In an instant, a massive flock of Ravens erupted from atop the High Wall behind her—more than ever before. Countless birds screeched, wings unfurling in a dark wave as they swooped down the wall toward the enemy.

Each clutched a grenade pin in its beak, some even yanking them free with talons. Countless grenades rained precisely onto the charging nestsouls.

Asta’s nestsoul tactics lesson—An He had listened intently. And now applied it.

A fresh wave of explosions rocked the area, earth quaking. The Golden Eagle soared high to evade, but the ground-bound nestsouls had no chance—some shredded by shrapnel, others flipped by the blast waves.

The Ravens, grenades spent, wheeled back and pecked at the enemies’ eyes.

The true melee erupted. Ide, stripped of her talent, fought on with raw physicality and the team’s support. Blood soaked her, but she didn’t flinch, ignoring the Raven-dropped bombs as she pressed toward Sora-protected No. 55.

She stuck to her Targeting principle: eliminate No. 55.

In the chaos, An He suddenly noticed the Golden Eagle had vanished.

Shit! She looked up—the bird was rocketing toward the High Wall at top speed.

Damn it. An He had nearly fallen for it. Ide was bait. While all eyes fixed on the commander’s peril, the slipping-away Golden Eagle was Sora’s true objective.

Killing Ide was a means; seizing the fortress was the endgame.