The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-458

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Chapter 458: Infiltration Operation at the Water Supply Area (5)

The ground trembled.

With the sound of hooves, a cloud of dust rose.

Late at night, the one driving a horse to the rear guard post was none other than Viscount Baldini.

“Where is she? Where did she go? Find her quickly!”

He urgently ordered his subordinates.

Viscount Baldini was worried about having issued a pass to someone without proper identification and hastily pursued the individual.

However, throughout his journey to the rear guard post, he found nothing.

There was no record of a high-ranking majin’s official’s visit in the document storage behind him.

All he could see were scattered corpses.

“Damn it. I hope nothing has gone wrong…”

Eventually, Viscount Baldini had to turn his horse around and return to his original post.

….

As soon as Baldini left, there were signs of movement in the area.

A few shadows stirred among the corpses of the Poison Humans.

“Hoo… That was the most unpleasant blanket in the world.”

Tudor moved from under the poison human corpse and stood up.

“My whole body is soaked in cold sweat. If we’d been discovered, it would’ve been a disaster.”

“My heart feels like it’s shrunk to the size of a bean.”

“Ugh… Heavy and disgusting.”

Nearby, Sancho, Figgy, and Bianca also got up, moving away from the Poison Human corpses they had used for cover.

As the pursuit team neared, the night walkers, following Vikir’s instructions, had all lain down with corpses on top of them to avoid detection.

“…That was close.”

Vikir also moved aside from the Poison Human covering him and stood up.

Three people followed Vikir’s lead and stood up as well.

The first to peek out from under Vikir’s armpit was Camus.

She narrowed her eyes as she looked at Vikir’s opposite side.

“You’re usually slow, but quick in times like these, huh?”

“W-What did I do?”

The one who lifted her head from Vikir’s other side was Dolores.

Of all places, she had dived into this spot during the moment of crisis.

Camus glared at Dolores and said,

“There’s an old saying that a quiet cat enters the kitchen first… Guess it’s true.”

“T-That’s not it! There were only corpses here, and I just instinctively did it because of a similar game we played in the dorms before…”

“What? Dorms? Drinking game? What’s did you do, Husband~?”

“Who’s your husband!?”

Camus and Dolores glared at each other over Vikir.

And between them, a voice tried to calm them down.

“We should be more careful~ Do you guys really want to argue under a pile of corpses?”

It was Sinclaire, lifting her head with a gentle expression.

However, her head was poking out between Vikir’s legs.

“Hey! Why are you coming out from there! You’re even more brazen!”

“…That’s not something you should be saying, Sinclaire.”

Camus, Dolores, and Sinclaire began a subtle standoff with Vikir between them.

“…”

But Vikir, ignoring their quarrel, was focused on the front.

Soon, the figures of Poison Humans began to appear through the red fog.

Inside the barrier, the Poison Humans were standing idly or wandering around aimlessly.

“We will now infiltrate the barracks.”

“Are we breaking through the center?”

“Yes. We could just pass by, but the number of Poison Humans is too large.”

Vikir nodded in response to Tudor’s question.

“These troops will probably be used in tomorrow’s siege. If we can reduce their numbers even a little, it will ease the burden on those left in the castle.”

At Vikir’s words, everyone’s expressions turned resolute once more.

If they could just break through this encirclement, they would be able to reach the water supply area.

Vikir and the elite squad hid themselves behind a protruding mound of dirt, waiting for the right moment.

‘If only baby madam was here…’

Vikir recalled his days as a night hound. If his former partner, Baby Madam, were here, their movements would be much freer. Unfortunately, he couldn’t replicate those actions now.

At that moment, Camus stepped forward.

“How about we dig our way in?”

Before Vikir could say anything, she pulled an item from her chest and covered her face with it.

It was the Picaresque Mask, a mask that could turn a person into a dog.

It was an artifact of Dantalian that Vikir had given to Camus before heading to Nouvellebag.

Huff, huff, huff-

Camus quickly transformed into a dog with red fur.

“So, so cute…”

Dolores reached out with sparkling eyes, but Camus brushed her off.

As a dog, Camus started digging into the high mound of dirt.

Scratch, scratch, scratch-

In no time, a deep underground tunnel had been created, and the dirt piled up high.

Camus, having dug a tunnel all the way to the inside of the barrier, wagged her tail and barked at Vikir.

Her actions, asking to be petted, made Vikir gently stroke her head.

“You’re making good use of the mask.”

“Of course.”

Camus, having returned to her human form, winked at Vikir.

Soon, the eight members of this elite squad crawled through the tunnel beneath the barrier.

The dense red fog made it hard to see ahead.

However, they could sense the presence of dark, red shadows moving around intermittently.

Rustle-

The night hound bared his fangs.

A few Poison Humans, who were wandering around the tunnel, silently had their heads roll to the ground.

Seeing the sticky poison dripping from the severed necks, Vikir nodded.

“…They certainly have an immense amount of poison. How on earth did they produce this much?”

The number of poison humans was enormous, and each one contained a vast amount of poison.

Creating this many Poison Humans with such quantities of poison would require an extraordinary effort.

‘They’re not much weaker than the Poison Humans I saw before the regression. But those appeared towards the end of the war.’

Vikir had to ponder the mystery he had before the Tochka Extermination Battle began.

‘How they produced so many Poison Humans is a mystery. There must be a limit to the amount of poison that can be mass-produced…’

Even before Vikir’s regression, the secret of how Reviadon managed to mass-produce so many Poison Humans remained unsolved.

…But.

Something was different this time.

“Hey, look over there.”

The sharp-eyed Sinclaire poked Vikir’s shoulder.

What Sinclaire had spotted was a black barrack beyond the red fog.

Vikir focused his eyes and stared into the fog for a long time.

Gradually, the scene beyond the fog began to reveal itself.

Ssssssss…

The silhouettes of the Poison Humans, visible through the mist like fountains of blood, resembled charred remnants in a burnt forest.

They were lined up and entering the black barracks one by one.

On the other side of the barracks, the Poison Humans that had just entered emerged one by one, their bodies larger, their limbs longer, and their forms even more grotesque.

‘…Are they recharging their poison in there? They even seem to be getting stronger.’

Vikir focused on one particularly large Poison Humans entering the barracks.

[Grurrrk- Grurrrrk…]

The Poison Humans, covered in sword scars and burn marks, likely survived today’s Tochka extermination battle.

After entering the barracks, it didn’t show itself for a while. But a few minutes later, it crawled out from the opposite side of the barracks.

Its elongated limbs were twisted like those of an insect, and its already hideous face was now even more terrifyingly distorted.

[Hieeeeek-]

The sword scars that had covered its body were completely gone.

It seemed to flaunt its overflowing poison and vitality as it creaked and twisted its way beyond the red fog.

“If my ‘Money Hats’ is getting nervous, it means there’s some kind of artifact. A very strong one, at that. It looks like they’re using it to recharge the Poison Humans.”

Vikir nodded at Sinclaire’s words.

Sinclaire was a new figure who wasn’t present in the original history. Her observations and guesses could be the key to altering their fate.

“We’re not far from the water supply area, but we need to damage this facility to prepare for tomorrow’s defensive battle.”

They needed to prevent Reviadon from recharging the Poison Humans any further.

For the sake of their comrades who would face these creatures in the Tochka fortress tomorrow.

Disabling this facility didn’t conflict with their mission to reach the water supply area, so the elite squad nodded in agreement.

“But how are we supposed to destroy the Poison Humans manufacturing plant? Even just breaking through seems difficult,” Tudor asked.

The black barracks, located atop a high mound, seemed to house a high-ranking Reviadon official.

Given the sheer number of Poison Humans gathered, reckless action could lead to death.

Destroying the place, let alone passing through, seemed impossible.

However, Vikir spoke confidently.

“I have a secret weapon prepared for this moment.”

Then, with a smooth motion—

Vikir pulled out something he had kept deeply hidden in the thick folds of his cloak.

“Vikir!? When did you get so…!?”

The item was enough to make the entire squad widen their eyes in astonishment.