Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 437: Chapter 437 - Tamers War - Fractured Lines

Instead of one or two infection points that could have been contained, there were now dozens of different sites where golden spores began expanding throughout the army.

The transformation was devastating to witness. What had been orderly formations just minutes before now resembled a patchwork of chaos, each infection site creating its own circle of disruption that rippled outward like stones thrown into still water.

”Situation report!” Kharzan roared while watching his ordered formation convert into multiple chaos zones.

His voice carried across the command area with the desperate expression of a leader watching his plans crumble in real time. The sound of distant screaming and confusion provided a grim backdrop to his demands for information.

”We estimate between thirty and forty successful impact points,” Valdris reported, quickly consulting the messages that kept arriving with relentless frequency. ”The infection is beginning to expand from each point.”

Each messenger brought news worse than the last. The coordination of the enemy attack had been flawless, striking simultaneously at points specifically chosen to maximize disruption.

”Containment capacity?”

The question hung in the air like a death sentence waiting to be pronounced.

”Limited, my Lord. We don’t have sufficient abyssal soldiers to handle so many simultaneous outbreaks of infection.”

The mathematics of the situation were brutally simple. Five hundred abyssal tamers distributed across forty infection points meant barely a dozen soldiers per outbreak. It was woefully inadequate for the scale of contamination they were facing.

Kharzan felt how the situation slipped beyond his control. What had begun as a manageable problem, one hundred infected soldiers in a single área, had now become a crisis potentially affecting thousands of his men.

The weight of command had never sensed heavier.

”Options?” he asked, though he already knew the options had become drastically limited.

The pause before anyone answered told him everything he needed to know about how dire their circumstances had become.

”We can try to create quarantine zones around each outbreak,” Chilong Zhao suggested, his voice carefully measured to hide his own growing concern. ”But that would completely fragment our formations.”

”Or we can order general retreat and...” Strahlfang added, his words trailing off as he saw Kharzan’s expression.

”And abandon our advance?!” Kharzan interrupted, unable to hide his frustration. The purple veins in his neck stood out as anger warred with desperation. ”Let Yano recover all the ground we’ve gained!?”

The thought of retreat after everything they had risked in this campaign was unbearable.

Julius had played brilliantly.

It was exactly the type of coordinated tactic that converted apparent victories into devastating defeats. The kind of bio-weapons and strategy that military academies would talk about for decades, assuming anyone survived to teach the lessons learned here.

And while Kharzan struggled to find a response to the expanding crisis...

The war had fundamentally changed in a matter of minutes, and not in his favor.

♢♢♢♢

Selphira was completely equipped and ready for the final battle.

Her specialized face mask, reinforced gloves, and lightweight replaceable ice armor protected her against any residual contamination from the spores they had used to weaken the enemy.

She had verified each piece of equipment Ren had provided, making sure nothing would interfere with her mobility during the coming combat.

The gear felt strange against her skin, a reminder that this war had evolved beyond traditional beast-against-beast combat into something involving weapons that could kill indiscriminately. It was an adaptation born of necessity, but it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

She was ready to enter and search for Kharzan in the middle of his diseased army and end this war once and for all.

The promise she had made burned in her chest like a flame that refused to be extinguished.

But Julius continued restraining her.

”You just need to wait for the infection to spread as much as possible,” he insisted, maintaining a firm hand on her arm. ”As long as Kharzan doesn’t find an effective solution, the situation will only improve for us.”

His fingers were steady, but she could sense the tension in his grip. He was fighting his own instincts.

Selphira growled with impatience, but recognized the logic behind Julius’s words.

Four centuries of experience had taught her the value of timing in warfare. Rushing into battle at the wrong moment had killed more warriors than enemy claws ever would. Still, every fiber of her being screamed for action.

Besides, Sirius and Julius were busy selecting the best soldiers from the highest available levels. They had access not only to royal family forces that followed Julius, but also to the few elite assistants Sirius had left in his territory to handle regional matters.

These soldiers had found ways to quickly finish their pending work, leaving lower-level appointees to handle routine responsibilities, and had come to the front to provide critical support in what would seem to be the final phase of the conflict.

The quality of these reinforcements was impressive.

”How many elite soldiers do we have available?” Selphira asked while checking the point of her spear for the fifth time.

”Twenty-three,” Sirius responded from where he was coordinating positions. ”All Gold rank 1 or higher. Some with beasts very useful for penetrating enemy formations.”

The numbers were encouraging, but Selphira knew that in her current state, she could probably handle the task alone if necessary. The elite soldiers would serve as insurance.

Things were looking better and better for their side.

A messenger came running from one of the tunnel’s upper entrances, his armor clanking with each hurried step.

”Commander Julius!” he shouted as he approached, breathless from his urgent sprint through the underground passages.

”Go ahead,” Julius responded without taking his eyes off the three-dimensional earth maps he was studying.

”It appears Kharzan’s troops have separated into several circles around their entire march,” the messenger reported quickly. ”They still haven’t found an effective solution for the contamination, but they’ve established quarantine zones.”

The image of Kharzan’s once-mighty army fragmented into isolated pockets of desperation brought a cold smile to Selphira’s lips. It was exactly what she had hoped to achieve.

”And their infiltrated Yino soldiers?”

”Those who seemed to be doing something with the first circle surrendered as expected. They’re now in a circle around Kharzan’s position.”

The abyssal tamers had finally been forced to abandon their positions among regular troops to form a protective barrier around their leader. It was a defensive posture that spoke of desperation rather than strength.

Selphira immediately interpreted this information as indication of a stalemate.

”It’s time to break the calm,” she declared, adjusting her armor and preparing to advance. ”If we wait longer, they might find a way to counteract the infection.”

Her patience had reached its limit. The promise she had made demanded fulfillment, and every moment of delay felt like a betrayal of her oath.

But Julius refused again, this time with more firmness.

”It’s not your turn yet,” he said, maintaining his position between Selphira and the exit from the underground shelter. ”First, to unleash the chaos they’re trying to contain... I myself will make an attack with my 6000 soldiers.”

♢♢♢♢

Ren, Larissa, Luna, and Liora ran through empty streets, their labored breathing mixing with the distant sound of fire explosions from the war.

The city felt like a ghost town. Occasionally, the distant rumble of explosions reminded them that this peaceful emptiness was an illusion.

From time to time, one of the characteristic flashes of the girls’ jumps briefly illuminated the group before they disappeared and reappeared dozens of meters ahead.

They had been running for an hour.