Chapter 49: Golden Fury


    In the meeting hall of the 1st Quad''s Army, Bouda fidgeted from time to time as she waited for the General. She looked at the Colonel who had brought the surprising news. The middle-aged man looked like an epitome of a statue with his straight back seated opposite to her.


    TCKK!!!


    The door opened with a clicking noise as Bouda saw General Eydis entering the hall. She stood up and saluted as per the protocol. Bouda had been seeing little of Eydis since her promotion. The Lt. Generals were getting rotated from post to post within a Quad. And this was Bouda''s turn to be in HQ. She couldn''t help but say out what was eating her up as soon as the midget slumped down in the oversized chair.


    "General, the timing seems way too coincidental with this one."


    She did not know why the General had been so adamant about purging out the vers and traffickers from the 1st Quad. These people had never ceased to exist no matter how many one would put behind the bars. And yet, she thought Eydis had some personal grudge against their entiremunity. She had to put up her work face seeing Eydis asking questions.


    "Colonel Adrian, who gave you the tip-off on this deal?"


    "It was one of our spies. The ck Wolves, one of thergest traffickers of Magical Creatures, are using the local gangs to dodge the bullet. But we had nted one of our soldiers within those gangs sometime ago."


    Bouda couldn''t tell why, but she had a bad feeling about this one. But General Eydis seemed to be on a centurial mission or something. There must be a reason for these mad attempts to root out every single Space Trafficker. Bouda sighed inwardly and thought to give it one more attempt.


    "But we can''t send out forces without the direct orders from the Supreme General. And we do not know when he will return to the office."


    Bouda felt she had checkmated Eydis, seeing the deep frown on her face. Someone had to keep the crazed General in check and Bouda was quite happy to have this responsibility on her shoulders. But the Colonel''s words cut short her dreams.


    "I have checked and verified it with the HQ central office. The General can order a substantial amount of force in the absence of the Supreme General if the probability of the tip-off being true is 100%. And we have holographic evidence for that."


    Bouda didn''t like the Eydis'' face, grinning from ear to ear. She knew that the mission would be unstoppable now.


    "Certainly, you don''t have to go there in person, General. Colonel Adrian is capable enough to handle a mere gang of lunatics. We have trained Dreamers, especially to handle a situation like this."


    "No, the leader of ck Wolves is a Marquess. ording to the tip-off, we would deal with at least two marquesses and potentially an Earl. I want to finish the job once and for all this time."


    Bouda heard Eydis''s reply and without a thought blurted out, "Then I would also like to go along with you."


    "You!?"


    Bouda heard the exmatory remark from the Colonel, which felt rude considering the difference in their rank.


    "Haha I meant Lt. General, I know you are the best Healer in the 1st Quad, or maybe in the whole UGF. But this is just a surgical mission. I am sure General Eydis would be done with it before she even loses a tenth of her Stamina."


    "No more dilly dally. Bouda, you cane if you want to. You have had little onsite experience. Let it be the first for you."


    Bouda''s eyes sparkled hearing the order. And in the moment of her wild imagination, she missed the drooping head of the Colonel.


    <strong>*</strong>


    In the southern part of the 1st Quadrant, there were many abandoneds. Theses had been mined excessively and had turned barren in the past. The only traffic they got to see, after losing their potential value,prised gangs and fugitives.


    In one of the mountainous regions on the, there was a valley surrounded by two of the highest peaks of the range. One could see at least hundreds of ck jacketed people with an image of a wolf on their back, transferring containers from one ship to other. Under thergest ship, two people were watching over the process. One was fat, with a craggy face and the same jacket. The other one was lean but ugly and with a yellow bandana over his head.


    Bouda eyed the two of them and heard Eydis speaking with a relieved tone.


    "Both Bastards are here. The report was indeed urate. Bouda and three others would stay and keep an eye out for any unexpected developments. The rest of you, let''s have some fun."


    BOOM!!!


    Bouda saw as the General jumped from the top of the mountain andnded among the mass of ck jackets. The vibrations of the impact got transferred from the valley to the mountain''s peak. The rest of the team, led by the Colonel, charged straight towards the two Marquesses. But just as the operation seemed to be executed with perfection, Bouda saw the Colonel turning around. His hand reached into the void and took out a transparent blue cube. Bouda''s heart skipped a beat seeing the cube, for not even she was qualified to have something like that. But she couldn''t even rm Eydis when three swishing sounds came from behind her.


    Bouda took herself to air dodging the attacks and saw the three soldiers with their ravaging expressions. The blood vessels in their eyes had turned ck and blood wasing out of their ears like water from a tap. Bouda immediately remembered a horrifying name that she would have forgotten if not seen by her own eyes.


    The Mind Rendering Skill


    As soon as the three soldiers missed their attacks, they slumped down on the mountain slope. Bouda''s face got shadowed by something and she looked up. The entire sky had been closed off by a Mana shield. And there weren''t many people in the Universe who could even attempt such a thing. In sheer terror, she turned around and looked at the General.


    Eydis had a foot on the head of the Colonel and was eyeing the huge portal that hade into existence in the valley. Three masked people in ck robes came out of the portal. Bouda''s eyes became wide, realizing the dire situation she was in. She saw ck scales surfacing on the General''s body and using her fastest speed flew towards her. But as she was about to approach Eydis, all three ck-robed people vanished.


    "You should just stay here."


    A hoarse voice came from her top as Bouda saw the remaining two taking out four enormous ck spikes and buried them in the ground around Eydis. The earth beneath the General became hollow and a giant rotten hand came out from the depth and grabbed her.


    "NO!!!"


    Bouda couldn''t help but let out a dreadful scream as the person over her head grabbed her by the hair and flung her back towards the mountain. Thousands of moments with the midget shed across Bouda''s eyes. And like old scraps, the blue color on her hair fell off. The golden color of her hair shined like a brilliant star, and all three ck-robed Dukes turned to look at her.


    "I WON''T LET YOU!"


    The Duke nearest to her staggered in the air and whimpered out, "You You aren''t"


    "Summon Ancestral Divine Spirit


    GOLDEN LUAN."


    SCREECHHHHHHHH!!!