437 Chapter 437: Horned Rhino

"From our ten o'clock!" I added hastily when I saw Feng Hai swivel around with a glare, already preempting his request for more details. "Uh, about eight hundred meters away, moving fast! We should get a visual in two minutes!"

"Nature of boogey?" Feng Hai demanded sharply.

"Unknown, as of now! They're concealed in the wild grass! I can't make out what they are!"

"That's fine." Brent unslung his staff and gripped it tightly, getting ready to swing it in the direction I pointed the mercenary group toward. "If it breathes, we can kill it."

"They, them," I corrected. "It's either an entire horde of monsters, or a single gigantic one. Given how uneven their movements are across the grass, I'm guessing it's the former."

"Good call." Feng Hai smiled and nodded. "I'm picking up multiple presences. You are right – it's a whole horde."

Wow…his senses must be really sharp if he could sense their presences from all the way here. I couldn't help but gape at him in awe.

"Everyone, get ready! Battle positions!"

The mercenaries scattered and took whatever cover they could, bringing their rifles up. Those armed with close combat weapons, such as Feng Hai, Redfield and Brent, formed the vanguard. They held their melee type Divine Devices aloft, bracing themselves to meet the furious charge of the incoming horde.

As I suspected, our assailants burst ouf of the tall grass and spilled into the valley in two minutes, grunting and roaring in welcome. They charged at us, their stampede kicking up a thick cloud of dust as their heavy hooves clobbered the earth into broken soil.

"Horned Rhinos!" Redfield shouted, flames swirling around him and his spear as he readied a long-range spell. "Everyone, be careful!"

I stared at the immense, white beasts in stupefied wonder. They resembled rhinoceros of old Earth, but were several times larger than their normal counterparts. Bulging muscles led them to be three meters in height and nine in length. Not only that, they sported three horns, making them resemble a Triceratops more than an actual rhinoceros, except that it was covered in thick mammal skin instead of scales or feathers. Additionally, they were missing the frills and high-forehead crest that marked the Triceratops, or any ceratopsids out as distinctive. From what I heard, the horns of Horned Rhinos had tremendous medicinal value, and were highly sought after as ingredients for enhancement drugs or whatever. If this was during my previous lifetime, these poor rhinos would have been hunted to extinction, much like the endangered White Rhino of my time.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), the Horned Rhinos were a different beast altogether. And I didn't just mean literally.

They were powerful monsters whose armored hide was able to shrug off all but the most powerful spells. Many hunters attempted to poach them, only to find themselves on the receiving end of assaults, gored by the Horned Rhinos' demonic horns, or trampled to death beneath their huge hooves. Only the most powerful mages were able to survive an encounter with a herd of them. There were attempts to single out an isolated one and hunt it for its horns, but Horned Rhinos never move alone. They usually flock in huge herds, and migrate together.

It seemed that this particular herd had picked out our presence and had arrived to drive us out of their territory.

"Don't worry," Feng Hai assured us. "All we need to do is put up a good fight. Once they realize that it's not worth the sacrifice and casualties to drive us away, they will naturally retreat. We just need to survive until then…and when they pull back, do not pursue them. Focus on surviving and sticking together for now. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

Surprisingly, while the Horned Rhinos were far from docile, they were still herbivorous monsters. They were undeniably hostile toward humans, but uncannily smart and cunning as well. They wouldn't blindly take a fight that was disadvantageous to them. If they suffered enough losses, they would withdraw on their own, recognizing that the survival of the majority of the herd was more important than settling some grudge with human intruders.

We could use that to our advantage.

"Brace yourselves!"

Feng Hai's words had barely left his mouth when the charging stampede crashed into us. The vanguard bore the full brunt of the assault, their Divine Devices lowered and blasting the approaching Horned Rhinos. I wasn't among them, having stayed back with the ranged mercenaries and offering support from afar with my arrows.

Fortunately, Orion wasn't my only weapon.

"Aries! Capricorn! Taurus!"

Summoning my huge Constellation spirits, I had them attack from the flank, knocking several stunned Horned Rhinos over and sending them clattering against their brethren. Obviously my surprise attack didn't kill them, but that was never my intention. I only wanted to sow some discord and confusion throughout the rampaging herd.

The Horned Rhinos' left flank collapsed a little as the monsters on that side struggled to get up, milling about in confusion. Aries, Capricorn and Taurus continued to run wild on that side, bulldozing teir way through while being careful not to take direct fights. Dance like a goat…I mean butterfly, sting like a bull…I mean bee. The Horned Rhinos tried to rally, but by the time they got back to their feet, my trio of Constellation spirits were already gone, and their path to vengeance was blocked by their own staggering or fallen brethren.

At the front, Feng Hai and the vanguard valiantly fought the Horned Rhinos off. Thanks to my distraction Constellation spirits, the number they had to face was not as overwhelming as it would otherwise have been. I could see bodies of Horned Rhinos hurled into the air as Feng Hai blasted them upward with hurricane spells, while the sheer raw strength of Brent blew them backward as he twirled his staff and whacked them. The scent of roasted flesh reached my nostrils and I saw Redfield cooking several whining Horned Rhinos in flames. Even their armored hide wasn't able to withstand such intense flames.

"Do not falter!" Feng Hai was yelling as he led the others to fend off the Horned Rhinos. Those that they couldn't face in a frontal battle were shot down by the soldiers using trees as cover, their rifles spitting out armor-piercing rounds. Given how tough the Horned Rhinos were, they weren't going to succumb to such tiny attacks, but the pain was enough to drive them back and retreat back to the tall grass, their tails between their legs.

Slowly but surely, we weathered the stampede and even forced them back. I recalled that time in the Boariceratops monster horde that my friends and I encountered in the Den of Dragons. Back then, we could only avoid them because we didn't have the strength to fight them off, and so ran up a cliff or something.

However, the Silver Wolves mercenary guild was able to withstand a stampede from a similar, if not more powerful monster horde, and even forced them to turn back and flee like the cowardly creatures they were. I couldn't help but be thoroughly impressed. The gulf between the strength of professional soldiers and students still in the midst of their training was really vast. I wondered how many years of combat experience I would require before I finally caught up to Feng Hai's level.

"We're pushing them back!" Redfield shouted as he incinerated another Horned Rhino with his flames. "Hang in there, everybody! Just a little more!"

"Easy for you to say!" Brent grunted as he struck another horned Rhino with his staff, spinning it to the ground. With a single kick, he actually sent the large, heavy creature hurtling off the ground and colliding with its brethren, much like a bowling ball knocking over rolling pins. "You're not using any physical strength at all!"

"Why don't you try casting spell after spell then?" Redfield retorted, his spear slicing through another Horned Rhino, the flames wreathing his blade allowing him to cut through the thick hide of a Horned Rhino like a fiery blade. "See if you aren't exhausted."

"Stop arguing!" Feng Hai snapped, conjuring another gust of wind to blow a couple of Horned Rhinos off their feet and throwing them into a spinning tornado. The wind blades were somehow able to leave lacerations on the nigh impenetrable hide of the Horned Rhinos, which left me even more impressed than before. "Focus on fighting!"

"Yes, boss."

"Yes, sir."

Neither of them argued, and resumed fighting with renewed vigor. The men beside them was infected by their newly energized movements and also fought harder than before, their blades streaking and weapons flashing across the air to cleave through or hammer against the beleaguered Horned Rhinos. The horde began to back away, especially when they saw their losses mounting.

I directed Aries, Capricorn and Taurus to continue running amok in their flanks, diverting the Horned Rhinos of that part of the herd away from the main force of the mercenaries. Meanwhile, I prepared to summon Leo, or one of my Celestial Guardians. They should be able to decimate the Horned Rhinos with a couple of big, area-of-effect spells…

Before I could do that, however, the surviving Horned Rhinos turned tail and fled. Even the wounded ones limped away, dragging themselves pitifully back toward the tall grass, with a few of their more courageous and selfless uninjured brethren staying behind to escort them. The only ones left behind were the dead, their carcasses still smoldering from the heat of Redfield's flames.

"Good job, everyone." Feng Hai heaved for a second before righting himself and turning to face his beleaguered mercenaries. He nodded in the direction of the retreating Horned Rhinos. "As I said, leave them be. Don't pursue."

"Yes, sir!"

"Even if you say that, we're in no shape to chase after those bastards!" Redfield laughed as he plopped down, breathing heavily. As part of the vanguard, he had taken the full brunt of the Horned Rhinos' frontal charge. Even the usually stoic Brent did not bother to mask his exhaustion, and also sat down, breathing heavily.

Feng Hai, despite being able to conceal his weariness better than his subordinates, nonetheless understood that he couldn't push them. He gestured for the mercenaries armed with guns to form a circle while he gathered the melee combatants to himself.

"Rest up, take thirty. Fire support squads, you're on sentry duty. Make sure those Horned Rhinos don't come back…and that there aren't any monsters lurking around, seeking to take advantage of us when we're drained."

"Yes, sir!"

The gunners didn't complain. After all, the vanguard had done most of the fighting and suffered the worst. Comparatively, we practically did nothing at all. Our rounds (and my arrows) failed to penerate the Horned Rhinos' hides, or if they did, we merely irritated them instead of mortally wounded them. Of course, we still did enough damage to divert their attention away from the frontline fighters and even sent them packing. Now that I was able to pay closer attention to the carcasses, I noticed at least one or two that had been brought down by the combined firepower of the gunners' shots.

Fired in mass, their weapons were not something any foe could afford to underestimate.

Joining them in sentry duty, I dismissed my trio of Constellation spirits and took the chance to recover a bit of mana while looking around. I also maintained my flock of Corvus, keeping an eye out for any signs of other humans in this vast, lonely mountain range. Not just humans – I also needed to look out for other monsters as well. An early warning could prove the difference between life and death.

That was when I noticed something odd. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I felt as if I had miscounted the number of mercenaries. It was as if there was an additional couple of people. Honestly, it wasn't because I was keeping count and knew the exact number of mercenaries who were participating in this mission. It was just that the couple of additional people stood out from the rest because it was easy to tell that I hadn't seen them around before.

For one thing, they were significantly smaller than the adult professional soldiers either keeping watch or resting on the ground. That was right. They looked like kids.

"What are kids doing here?" I asked, puzzled.

"Come again?" Feng Hai's hearing was so sharp that he heard me even though I meant to whisper. I turned to him sheepishly.

"Well…um, do you have kids in your employ? I thought you only hire adults."

"What are you talking about?" Feng Hai scowled. "Of course there should only be adults here. And you probably can be counted as one, give that you're already in the second year of your high school."

"Then who are those two…?" my words trailed away when I closed in on them and finally made out their features. My jaw dropped when I realized that I recognized them both. Exasperation filled me and I resisted the urge to bury my face in my palm. "What the fuck are the both of you doing here?!"

Adrian Stuart and Melina Franklin stared up at me, looking as if they were feigning innocence, but they were more likely just embarrassed at finally being caught.