Chapter 37: The Eastern Reserve Station

A pale glow passed through the markings on Larper’s collar as the reinforcements moved toward the barricade. Zishan noticed the change and used Perfected Appraisal to examine it.

[Target: Military Slave Collar]

[Incoming Command Detected!]

[Diversionary Operation: COMPLETE]

[Primary Assault: SUCCESSFUL]

[Olmost Reinforcement Origin: Eastern Reserve Station]

[Origin Status: OVERRUN]

[Compulsory Directive: Continue engaging enemy forces.]

Zishan’s grin disappeared. ’...What?’

He read the notification again, hoping that he had somehow misunderstood what the System was attempting to tell him.

Alas! The words remained unchanged.

Zishan’s expression stiffened.

The reinforcements had finally arrived. The western barricade was receiving additional manpower, the wounded soldiers at Forward Medical Section Three were no longer completely dependent on their exhausted comrades.

The horde’s coordination had also already deteriorated significantly because of Larper’s divided attention. Under ordinary circumstances, the arrival of reinforcements should have been excellent news.

Instead, Zishan had just learned that the station those reinforcements had departed from was already gone.

’Those fucking bastards...’

He glanced toward Larper, who had lowered his head. For a moment, the young Corporal stood completely still.

Then, he began laughing.

At first, it was quiet enough that Zishan almost failed to hear it over the surrounding battle. However, the laughter gradually became louder until the young Corporal was practically shaking with amusement.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Zishan stared at him.

’Oh, shit. Has this guy finally gone crazy?’

Considering what he had just discovered about Larper’s enslavement, he genuinely couldn’t blame the bastard if the situation had finally become too much for him. He had spent who knew how long being forced to fight for a Kingdom that apparently considered him expendable, and now his carefully organized horde was being destroyed by an extremely annoying young Soldier, a walking disaster.

However, there was something particularly unsettling about the way Larper was laughing.

The Corporal wasn’t looking at Zishan anymore. His attention remained fixed on the direction from which the Olmost reinforcements had arrived, and the expression on his face suggested that he understood something the soldiers celebrating behind the barricade had yet to discover.

Zishan tightened his grip on his sword.

’So you knew...’

He finally understood why the enemy had committed so many Magic Beasts to the assault, why Larper had continued maintaining the attack despite suffering enormous losses, and why an enslaved Beast Tamer had apparently been entrusted with directing an operation that should have required more military support.

The horde had never needed to destroy Forward Medical Section Three.

It only needed to create a sufficiently dangerous situation to force the Olmost military to send reinforcements from somewhere else.

And the Kingdom of Degenerates had apparently been waiting for exactly that opportunity.

Zishan felt an unfamiliar frustration rising in his chest. He had spent so much time celebrating his EXP gains that he hadn’t even considered the possibility that the entire battle was intended to distract them from something much more important.

Of course, considering that he had only arrived at the medical station after the Sergeant had already requested reinforcements, there was absolutely nothing he could have done to prevent the original decision.

That realization did little to improve his mood.

He looked toward Larper again.

’You poor bastard. They even made you the fucking bait.’

Larper’s laughter gradually subsided, although his expression remained disturbingly amused as he raised his curved blade again. The collar around his neck emitted another faint pulse, and Zishan noticed how the Corporal’s shoulders stiffened in response.

It seemed like he was not done yet.

Larper accelerated toward him.

Zishan raised his sword and intercepted the approaching blade, but this time, he had absolutely no intention of continuing their confrontation in the same manner. The reinforcements had already arrived, another Olmost position had apparently been overrun, and he still needed to inform the Sergeant about what had happened.

More importantly, he had received an entirely new Skill that he had somehow managed to forget about while examining the enemy Corporal’s slave collar.

’RIGHT! I CAN TAME BEASTS NOW!’

Zishan immediately activated Perfected Appraisal again, but instead of examining Larper, he concentrated on the nearest surviving Ridgefang Hounds.

The additional information appeared almost instantly.

[Species: Ridgefang Hound]

[Level: 40]

[Condition: Injured]

[Taming Status: Subjugated]

[Current Tamer: Larper Forteza]

[Taming Connection: WEAKENED]

He examined another creature.

[Species: Ridgefang Hound]

[Level: 40]

[Condition: Exhausted]

[Taming Status: Subjugated]

[Current Tamer: Larper Forteza]

[Taming Connection: UNSTABLE]

Zishan’s eyes lit up.

’HAHAHAHA! YOU’VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!’

Larper had withdrawn several of his Taming connections with the magic beasts during their confrontation. This led to the surviving beasts no longer securely controlled as they had been earlier. The Corporal was still capable of issuing commands to them, but maintaining those commands while fighting Zishan had become increasingly difficult.

And now Zishan possessed the ability to interfere with those connections himself.

He activated Beast King’s Authority on the nearest Ridgefang Hound.

A small quantity of Mana gathered around his hand before extending toward the creature. The unfamiliar sensation nearly distracted him enough to miss Larper’s next attack, but Zishan managed to raise his sword and intercept the approaching blade while continuing to guide his Mana toward the beast.

[Existing Taming Connection Detected!]

[Attempting to Establish Competing Connection...]

The hound abruptly stopped moving.

Its head turned toward Zishan, and the creature released a vicious growl as two different streams of Mana began competing for control over its movements.

Larper noticed the disturbance almost immediately.

His expression changed when he discovered that the white-haired Soldier was attempting to establish a Taming connection with one of his beasts.

For the first time since their confrontation had begun, the young Corporal appeared genuinely bewildered.

Zishan grinned when he noticed.

He increased the amount of Mana flowing toward the hound, using the knowledge he had acquired from his newly obtained Skill to reinforce the connection. The creature resisted, snapping its jaws and struggling against the unfamiliar influence, but Larper’s existing control had already weakened significantly.

Zishan concentrated harder, forcing his Mana through the unstable connection before Larper could reinforce it.

[Existing Taming Connection Disrupted!]

[Beast Taming Successful!]

[Tamed Beast Acquired: Ridgefang Hound]

[Tamed Beasts: 1]

’HOLY SHIT! IT WORKED!’

The hound suddenly stopped resisting and turned its attention toward Zishan, awaiting his command. But Zishan had absolutely no time to celebrate his first successful taming attempt because Larper was already approaching him with a particularly murderous expression.

He quickly ordered the hound to intercept the incoming attack.

The creature lunged toward its former master, forcing Larper to abandon his intended strike and retreat several steps. Although the Corporal possessed more than enough physical strength to defeat an ordinary Level 40 Ridgefang Hound, the interruption gave Zishan an opportunity to activate the Skill again.

He targeted another injured hound whose connection had weakened during the earlier disruptions.

Then, another.

The first creature resisted more fiercely than the previous one, forcing Zishan to strengthen his Mana connection while simultaneously defending himself against Larper’s attempts to interrupt the process. The second nearly escaped before Zishan managed to establish control, but with his additional Willpower and the understanding provided by Perfected Glimpse, he gradually succeeded in forcing both creatures to accept his commands.

[Beast Taming Successful!]

[Tamed Beast Acquired: Ridgefang Hound]

[Beast Taming Successful!]

[Tamed Beast Acquired: Ridgefang Hound]

[Tamed Beasts: 3]

Three Ridgefang Hounds now stood between Zishan and the young Corporal.

Larper’s expression became unpleasant.

Zishan, meanwhile, was experiencing an extraordinary amount of happiness. ’HAHAHAHA! I’M ACTUALLY STEALING HIS FUCKING BEASTS!’

[The Dumb Host is advised to remember that three Level 40 hounds are unlikely to defeat a Level 99 opponent.]

’WHO SAID THEY HAVE TO DEFEAT HIM?!’

He then ordered the creatures to attack from different directions.

One hound lunged toward Larper’s legs while another attempted to attack his exposed side. The third circled behind him, forcing the Corporal to divide his attention between defending against the approaching creatures and preventing Zishan from launching another attack.

Larper managed to deflect the first hound with his blade before striking the second creature hard enough to send it tumbling across the ground. However, by the time he attempted to intercept the third, Zishan had already stepped forward and brought his sword toward the Corporal’s shoulder.

Their weapons collided.

Zishan immediately withdrew his blade and attacked again, refusing to give Larper enough time to recover his previous control over the battlefield.

He wasn’t particularly concerned about whether the hounds could injure the bastard. Their primary purpose was to create openings that he could exploit.

And judging by Larper’s expression, the strategy was working perfectly!

However, the young Corporal was still far from defeated.

He abruptly released an enormous concentration of Taming Mana, forcing several nearby Magic Beasts to abandon their previous movements and converge on Zishan’s position.

Two Ridgefang Hounds immediately lunged toward his back, while a heavily injured Ironback Razorboar began charging from the opposite direction...