Chapter 1608 (2/2)

Charlotte could only scratch her cheek. There had been a lot of discussion regarding these Riders by the elite group after they had joined the fight against the first Nether Pinion. Luckily, it seemed that DiOrtho Vant had some experience with them. He had explained that they were a rather standoffish but unified army. There were different varieties that appeared to be constantly competing against one another, but they always joined together whenever faced with an external threat. So the current situation was a bit… unexpected.

Even if you say they compete with one another… Charlotte gritted her teeth. This looks just like warfare...

Commander Shilling was the leader of the troops that the Ghosthound had sent the elite troops to reinforce. In addition to one hundred fifty elites, they had come with almost a thousand Riders. Initially, the Commander had been delighted when the group arrived; it had been in contact with other task forces and realized how difficult a problem the Nether Pinions were.

Sensing the strength of the elite group and the numbers of the Riders, a lot of the Commander’s stress disappeared. The frantic twitching of its antenna had ceased.

But with the sudden infighting of the Riders, it appeared that if anything, the Commander’s twitches had intensified.

Inwardly, she was cursing the Ghosthound for how helpful his ‘gifts’ were. The Ghosthound was undoubtedly powerful, but he often seemed to purposefully made things difficult for his recruits. Perhaps this was just some sort of sadistic and lingering training method, now that they were no longer just his recruits…?

But outwardly, Charlotte released a breath and tried to put a positive spin on the situation. “The Riders… are simply psyching themselves up for the upcoming battle. As you can see, there are no casualties; this is just sparring. But meanwhile, by the time that we arrive at our destination, their morale-”

Even Charlotte’s meandering ‘explanation’ of the situation had to pause as a sudden change spread quickly through the assembled Riders. Even those locked in a furious struggle with each other were abruptly frozen. The sudden commotion immediately died, causing an awkward silence to spread outward.

Then the Riders began to transform.

Both the Riders and the Mounts twitched and collapsed. Their muscles bulged and flexed as they writhed in obvious agony on the ground. Strange growths of flesh exploded outward from various limbs only to shrink back within their person as though nothing had happened. Beside her, the Commander’s own twitches had become an almost constant vibration. “This… boosts morale?”

Charlotte couldn’t bring herself to claim anything further about the Riders actions. But very quickly, her attention was drawn to a few spots of golden light that appeared amongst the various Riders. It was as though a bunch of tiny stars appeared above a few dozen of the Riders and dropped slowly down to condense into a necklace around the necks of the Riders in question.

With a quick count, Charlotte spotted 47 such drops of golden light. And to her surprise, when the light faded, the energy had become… a sharp tooth, like the fang of a wolf.

Still, much more reassuring was what happened next. Gradually, the Riders got back to their feet and looked at their own hands in wonder. In the next second, a powerful aura wafted off of the Riders; whatever had happened, it had clearly increased their strength.

Was I… actually not wrong…?

Sensing the opportunity, Charlotte did her best to reveal a winning smile toward the Commander. “As you can see, the process is a bit… violent, but now-”

As though they had waited until this moment to allow Charlotte Wick to feel confident in her relief, the Riders launched once more into a series of battles. This time the clashes were much smaller scale, focusing on a series of duels by the Riders who held these suddenly appearing fangs. But no matter that the fights were much smaller in scale, all the reassurance Charlotte had been attempting become useless.

“This… perhaps it is just better if we attack alone…” Commander Shilling whispered. “It appears that your group is still… too green for a real battlefield.”

Charlotte’s mouth twitched as a strange fury emerged in her heart. Certainly, this behavior from the Riders was… unfortunate, but that didn’t completely mean this Commander could dismiss their newly named Vulpis Squad. After all, Charlotte could sense that her own personal power might be less than the Commander… but it wasn’t a decisive difference.

So she narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth. “At least the Vulpis Squad-”

“Wouldn’t your energy be better spent… assisting your… allies?” The Commander responded blandly.

Just as Charlotte was about to retort, another change went through the Riders. Or rather, the same changes that happened previously repeated themselves. They froze. They collapsed. Their bodies warped and mutated. Then another fifty or so golden lights condensed down amongst them.

Some went to individuals who had managed to accumulate a few fangs already, but most went to completely new individuals. Then, to complete the repetition, all of the Riders stood and released an even more domineering aura of power.

Charlotte felt a headache coming on. At the very least… them being more powerful… is a good thing, right?