Chapter 405 - Rookie

BANG! BANG!

The grenade erupted, blasting bits and pieces of dirt, hot air and shrapnel in every direction.

A massive cloud of white shot up from the core of the explosion. But, before anyone could even sigh a breath of relief, an ice guard shot out from the dust cloud, gliding across ice of its own creation like a silent assassin.

'Shit.'

Joel brandished his halberd, the trigger of his rifle echoing a hollow click.

He tossed the useless gun to the side, gathering his courage as his hands gripped his weapon's polearm.

Milan pulled a heavy shield from his back, slamming it hard against the iced grounds and standing shoulder to shoulder to Raj.

Raj moved to bite off another grenade's pin, only to see the remaining 11 ice guards shoot out from the cloud of smoke. What was the point? The grenades were useless anyway...

"ROOOOOOARRR!!"

Another roar shook the battlefield.

The Variant Invalid stalked forward. By this point, the engineers had only just reached the gate once again. As for the troops who could only move on foot, they were still over 50 meters away. Unfortunately, in these conditions, many of them were having trouble finding stable ground to stand on.

The white wolf crouched, its powerful limbs shattering the ice beneath its feet.

BANG!

In this new world order, there were many sights the common people could have never dreamed of seeing in the past that they could experience now. Watching as a five meter tall and almost ten meter long wolf cross hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye... was definitely one of those things.

A massive shadow seemed to swallow the sun.

Joel looked at the halberd in his hands while Milan and Raj looked toward their shields. Then, they looked toward one another, bitter smiles on their faces.

BANG!

The Gates slammed shut. By now, only half the hundred troops that had come managed to make it back. As for those who were close, they banged on the steely gates with despair ringing from their voices.

Their efforts resounded like dull thuds. The Gates were too think and too solid. Even if one stood on the opposite side, it would have been impossible to hear a thing.

All this time, the white wolf watched without even attempting to stop them. It raised its head haughtily, emitting the air of a King of Beasts.

"Concentrate your fire!" Miles barked out an order.

The bombardment of artillery shells had maybe been the only reason the tactical unit hadn't been completely surrounded and wiped out by Invalids. But now that Miles had ordered for them to concentrate their fire onto the white wolf, what chance did they stand anymore?

At that moment, a rookie helped Milan to stand while a few others helped Joel and Raj.

Milan opened his mouth to yell at the rookie once more, but the breaks to his ribs caused him to wince. In the end, he sighed. Was there a point in yelling anymore?

"Damned kid, we already told you not to join the army, but you didn't listen. Now you don't even listen to my orders. Why you all do such stupid things is beyond me."

Milan shook his head. Though the white wolf was ignoring them now, that wasn't out of mercy. Would you care much about an ant you could crush any time you wanted?

While Milan was lost in his thoughts, though, he didn't expect the rookie who helped him up to actually respond to his words.

Looking forward seriously, the scrawny little guy in an oversized military uniform and helmet stood straight with his underdeveloped chest sticking out as far as he could force it to.

"Respect the game. Persist to the end!"

Milan was stunned out of his thoughts. For a moment, he could sense a sliver of Leonel's overbearing aura.

A sudden laughter rocked the battlefield. Whether it was Joel, Raj or Milan, their gazes went red without even having to look in the direction it came from.

"Well said, rookie!"

It was only then that Milan realized it wasn't an illusion.. He really had sensed it.