Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 259 - 25 Welcome Home_1

Chapter 259: Chapter 25 Welcome Home_1

"Tilt fifteen degrees to the left, watch out for jumping attacks." Captain Ayrland stood in the middle of the embattled square on top of a luxurious carriage, commanding the city guards with composure: "The three squads on the right, retreat a bit, you’re too close to the edge."

The situation had changed slightly from their initial plan. Since Ayrland noticed that although numerous, the magical beasts were not very strong and showed no signs of high rank beasts, he requested that the adventure team withdraw from the front line. This allowed city guard to have the experience of actual combat, while he himself retreated to watch from atop the luxurious carriage.

Outside the defensive lines, hordes of magical beasts covered the land, tens of thousands in number, most were small creatures. Stone rats which ate rocks and special clay, and gale rabbits were the most numerous, making up more than two thirds of the group. They were also interspersed with other rare, unusual rodents and small magical beasts.

For example, there were Jumpy Rats, which had meter-long tails that could coil into a spiral shape and compress against the ground, and then suddenly spring open to propel themselves in a five-meter high jump. They had beak-like noses hard as keratin, which allowed them to act as projectiles, shooting themselves like arrows to kill their prey.

Also present were Floating Lizards, capable of producing special gas within their bodies, causing a layer of their skin to inflate into a balloon and float in the air. When expanded, the gaps between the creature’s scales would widen, revealing numerous tiny spikes that produced toxins. A sting from these spikes would induce severe pain and terror, but not cause any actual harm. When attacked, the outer layer of its skin would burst open, spewing out the spikes, causing havoc while allowing itself to swiftly escape and recover.

The most special were a type of small badgers, regarded as the ’sharpshooters’ or ’catapults’ among magical beasts. These badgers had agile tails that were not fluffy, but capable of coiling and accelerating stones the size of chicken eggs in the air, then launching them with deadly accuracy from specific angles, causing considerable trouble for the team.

Additionally, there were quite a number of slightly larger magical beasts mixed among the crowd, such as fire foxes, hyenas, ice wolves, leopards, and raging badgers. These beasts usually launched ranged attacks with their magic, making it hard for the guards to harm them. If the defenders got distracted and left a hole in their defence, the smaller magical beasts would seize the chance to break through, presenting a significant challenge.

Lastly, there were about a dozen medium-sized magical beasts, each around one to two meters in length, primarily tigers and leopards, and one bear. Since they hadn’t attacked yet, it was impossible to identify their specific species. But the sight of these Silver-Rank magical beasts was enough to place considerable psychological pressure on the city guards. Luckily, with the support of Pannis and the four Gold-Rank professionals within their ranks, there was no problem managing them.

For Neutral Land Rhea, the city guard was more like a security patrol than an army, mostly responsible for regular inspections and occasional city defence. In the three major cities of Rhea, apart from the City of Innocence, which had no city guards, the other two cities’ guards consisted of strong ordinary humans as soldiers, about a third Iron-Rank professionals as their backbone, Bronze-Rank professionals as lower-level leaders, Silver-Rank professionals as high-level leaders, and a few Gold-Rank professionals as commanders. This structure was similar to the army structures of other human countries, except that they had a higher number of low-rank professionals.

However, after careful selection by Ayrland, no Iron-Rank professionals were included in this wedding escort team. Of the thirty-person team, there were twenty-five Upper Bronze-Rank, four Lower Silver-Rank, and one Middle Silver-Rank. Given their formidable strength, they were able to withstand the siege of tens of thousands of magical beasts like a reef standing against the tide.

"Do you think this is the work of Druids?" Although the battle outside was intense, except for Captain Ayrland who was commanding, the rest of them were quite relaxed. Catherine knelt on the roof of the carriage, staring at a few Silver-Rank beasts behind the horde of magical beasts.

"Apart from Druids, who else could mobilize so many magical beasts to attack us?" Pannis said, "Only those who constantly shout about being ’one with nature’ could do it."

"Incredible. How powerful would a Druid have to be," Lina asked incredulously, "to control so many magical beasts?"

"Your understanding of Druids is somewhat flawed," Pannis pointed out Lina’s error. "Druids don’t control animals, they never control, they just become one with nature, and allow animals to see them as friends. The situation now is not the result of control, but a result of them using peace-bringing skills in reverse, making the animals angry and aggressive, and seeing us as enemies. Even novice Druids can achieve this easily."

"Yes, I’ve met a few Elven Druids," Catherine nodded, "It’s like Pannis said, making magical beasts in the wild attack a specific target is easy. The difficult part is how he maintains this state of hostility among the beasts. I haven’t been able to locate him, despite searching everywhere."

"If you’re certain of something’s existence but can’t find it after searching every possible location," Pannis spoke up, "then there can only be one explanation."

"I got it. It simply means there must be a place I overlooked, right?" It seemed as though Catherine understood something as she slowly raised her chin to look up at the sky. In the sky, a small black dot circled above the horde of beasts, making no attempt to conceal itself. "That riding the hawk, how high do you think it’s flying? Fifteen hundred meters?"

"Can’t be," Pannis responded with calm, "It’s just around twelve hundred meters."

"Well, that’s still out of my range," Catherine sighed, "Lina, now is not the time to be reading. You need to think of a solution, and while you’re at it, wake up the doofus next to you. Now isn’t the time for her to lapse into her own world."

"I can’t do anything under such circumstances," Lina stretched her hand, twisting Vivian’s face into a comical expression. "A target more than a thousand meters away, I can’t reach it. No divine spell can help. Ah, that hurts."

"Idiot, fool, blockhead." Vivian retrieved her magic staff from Lina’s ribcage, looking around blankly, "Why are there so many magical beasts? What happened?"

"Uh, I knew this would be the outcome." Catherine ignored Vivian’s question, pointing at the sky with a headache, and made a direct request, "That thing up there, is there a way to deal with it?"

"That, I can deal with." Vivian sat cross-legged on the roof of the carriage, propped her chin and looked up at the sky calmly, "If I were to advance to the Legendary Rank right now, there would be no problem at all."

"You’re talking nonsense again." Catherine rolled her eyes, "So, we could only let it keep flying. Hopefully, it will starve to death in the sky for flying too long."

"Catherine, Catherine." Freya’s song-like voice came from below them, "Is someone attacking us right now?"

"Only a large group of magical beasts is attacking us." Catherine stated, "And an eagle in the sky. If we could get rid of the person riding the eagle, this group of magical beasts should be dealt with swiftly."

"So, someone really does see us as targets." Freya sighed sorrowfully, "Why? Why must people perpetually hurt each other? This is supposed to be a wedding journey filled with flowers, applause, and happiness. Why does someone crave to stain it in blood and flames, why..."

"Shut up, we’re trying to figure out the real problem here." Vivian interrupted firmly.

"Okay, but I think you guys owe me an explanation." Freya responded, "I felt something was off since last night. Your mannerisms were odd, and you were too protective of me, as if you sensed trouble was coming. And sure enough, trouble has appeared today. Therefore, I demand an explanation after this issue is resolved."

"Okay." Catherine sighed reluctantly, "We’ll make time to explain to you in the next couple of days."

Though she spoke these words, Catherine continuously signaled Pannis using pleading glances. The meaning behind her eyes was crystal clear - quickly make up a believable reason.

"The altitude is 1200 meters, right?" Freya suddenly began speaking like a completely normal person, "What is the radius of the circling flight?"

"About a kilometer." Catherine answered instinctively, "Can you solve this?"

"Otherwise, how would I be worthy to be your teammate?" Freya’s voice suddenly became energetic, as if the passion she had been suppressing was instantly released, "Give me half an hour, and I promise to deliver a miracle."

Catherine was stunned, rigid and still, until several minutes later when Pannis noticed her mouth gradually curving into a smile. Her furrowed brows slowly softened, and a layer of mist even shrouded her eyes. When she turned her head, she found that Lina and Vivian reacted the same way, displaying a nostalgic expression, as if they were recalling something and their hearts had already drifted back to their past.

"You, you, you." Catherine’s lips trembled slightly, "You’re about to get married. I thought the old days were forever in the past and you became a princess, never to return again. But I was wrong. You came back, and you’re still the same you."

"You fool. Clearly, you can no longer continue to fight alongside us. Why can’t you just enjoy your peaceful life?" Lina discreetly wiped the corner of her eyes, "Why did you come back? To make us cry?"

"You liar! Big liar, Freya!" Even Vivian’s voice was choked with tears, "When you disappeared suddenly years ago, do you know how heartbroken we were? We finally got to see you again, and yet you pretended to be extremely happy, making us all too afraid to disturb you again. You bastard, you should have continued to stay away, why did you come back?"

"I’m sorry, I couldn’t hold myself back. Even for a lifetime of happiness, I can no longer suppress the desires of my heart." Freya seemed to be sobbing softly, "I’m sorry, everyone, and big sister, I’m back."

"Welcome home." Catherine covered her mouth, tilted her head back as far as she could, suppressing the mouvement in her heart and the tears in her eyes. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote and support us on qidian.com. Your support is our greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)