This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Over the screams of fallen comrades and civilians, Nadia shouted, “We have to take those machines down before they fire again!”

“No shit! But look at them!” Benji growled, driving his dagger into the eye socket of a lunging beast. “Each one is guarded by a high-level Abyssal. If we don’t plan this right, we’ll be slaughtered before we even get close.”

Clara gritted her teeth, a shield of light launched by one of her contracts barely fending off a strike from a charging Abyssal creature. “Then who takes them on? We’re stretched thin as it is!”

Kain’s mind worked fast, assessing the battlefield. The defenders were still holding, thanks to Aegis’ ability stabilizing their forces and preventing any of them from becoming corrupted.

But the Abyssals were pushing harder now that the walls were breaking and they could practically taste the flesh of the helpless civilians. If the machines weren’t stopped soon, there would be nothing left to defend.

His gaze locked onto the four towering war machines and the monstrous Abyssals standing guard around them.

“We need strike teams,” Kain decided. “One per machine. We take out the guardians first, then disable or destroy the war machines before they recharge.”

“You say that like it’s simple,” Clara muttered, shooting an arrow straight through the skull of a mid-tier Abyssal who was about to chomp down on the neck of a guard. “But you’re right. We don’t have another choice.”

“I’ll handle one of the machines,” Nadia stated, gripping her sword tightly. “Benji and Kain, you take another. Clara and Claudia, you two each lead the third and fourth teams.”

There was nothing to argue about with that arrangement. Benji was originally only inferior to Nadia in strength in the team. Even despite lacking the injured Aura, Benji may still be slightly stronger than the other two. Therefore, it was best for him to be responsible for the newbie Kain on such a dangerous mission.

Benji taking care of Kain’s safety will also free up Nadia if she needed to quickly assist any of the others.

Benji nodded, also agreeing with the plan while wiping a streak of abyssal blood off his face. “Stick close to me, kid. This isn’t like fighting those cannonfodders—these things are on another level entirely.”

Kain didn’t argue. He had already seen what a high-level Abyssal was capable of. Just one of them had the power to tear through a squad of trained defenders like paper.

Nadia had assigned additional guards to each strike team, carefully selecting individuals whose contracts and abilities would complement the group.

Since Kain and Benji already formed a duo, only two more were added to their team: Mira, the guard who had previously called Kain to assist with Aegis, and another young woman named Sera. Both had been chosen for a reason.

As they maneuvered through the battlefield, Mira quickly spoke, her tone steady despite the chaos. “My contracts are all of the wind-attribute and I have a gift, but it’s not very special. It lets me generate concussive force blasts. Short-range but strong—enough to knock back or destabilize something big.”

Sera followed up without missing a beat. “I also have a gift but it is of the reinforcement-type. I can fortify weapons or armour for a short duration. I have 2 water-attribute contracts and 3 ice attribute ones.”

After hearing about everyone’s abilities Benji shared the gameplan with everyone.

“…Okay everyone, remember to follow the plan but also keep your safety in mind. We really can’t afford to lose any more fighting force right now. Unless your sacrifice can turn the tides of the battle or destroy those machines for certain, don’t take unnecessary risks.”

After everyone nodded to signify that they were okay with the plan, they headed out.

Meanwhile, Nadia had long set out with her team, wasting no time charging forward, cutting a path through the abyssal horde, several of her spiritual creatures clawed and bit their way through the masses in order to open up a path.

But it wasn’t her style to sit back safely either, her sword flared with spiritual energy as she cleaved through a mid-level Abyssal blocking her way, its shriek cut short as its body was split in two.

Her eyes locked onto the grotesque war machine ahead—standing before it was a towering high-level Abyssal, clad in obsidian armor, its glowing gold eyes watching her approach with eerie stillness.

With a burst of speed, she closed the gap, swinging her sword in a wide arc.

At the same time, a star-attribute flying serpent lashed out, weaving around her opponent in a blinding flash of light, its scales burning through the Abyssal’s black armor.

Unfortunately, not much damage was inflicted. The Abyssal moved unnaturally fast, its clawed hand deflecting her blade with a ringing clash while avoiding the more lethal attacks from her contracts. The impact sent shockwaves through the air, forcing Nadia back a step.

A slow, guttural chuckle rumbled from the creature’s throat.

“More prey,” it hissed, abyssal energy radiating from its form like a heatwave. “If only you knew how futile your own resistance was. Any creatures that dared to defy the mighty–”

“You talk too much,” Nadia spat, lunging again, this time accompanied by her star-attribute contracts as well as the contracts of the accompanying guards.

Across the battlefield, Clara and Claudia were already engaged with their own targets. Clara’s arrows rained down like a relentless storm, piercing through lesser Abyssals as she fought to clear a path to the target for her new temporary teammates.

But her true focus was on the towering figure guarding the third war machine—a monstrous fusion of beast and metal, its body plated with abyssal-infused steel, four arms wielding massive, jagged blades. Every step it took sent cracks through the ground.

Clara’s contract, a massive light-attribute falcon, swooped down with a screech, slamming into the creature’s side with a burst of spiritual energy. Meanwhile, her other contracts were responsible for controlling its movements.

At the same time, her new teammates also launched a variety of their own strongest attacks on the high-level abyssal.

The Abyssal staggered, but only for a moment. Then it turned its glowing golden eyes to Clara and let out a deafening roar.

“This is gonna be rough,” she muttered, knocking another arrow.

Claudia was faring no better. The high-level Abyssal before her was shrouded in darkness, its form shifting like living smoke, making it almost impossible to track its movements. Every time she struck, her blade met only empty air before the creature reappeared elsewhere, striking back with nightmarish speed. A sharp claw raked across her side, drawing blood and forcing her back.

Clenching her teeth in pain, thankfully Claudia’s contract formed a dark shield that seemed to absorb all light and attacks around her as she repositioned herself.

The moment the Abyssal lunged again, another contract shot forth a barrage of sticky black threads, attempting to pin the creature down. It snarled as the threads clung to its form, slowing it just enough for Claudia to drive her blade forward.

Not long after, a barrage of attacks from her other contracts and her new teammates also landed and kicked up a cloud of smoke, obstructing the vision of the abyssal for everyone—its life and death unknown.

Back at Kain’s position, their group had reached their target. The war machine’s guardian was unlike anything Kain had faced before—a monstrous, centipede-like Abyssal with a humanoid upper body, with multiple lanky arms wielding serrated blades. While its insect-like lower body was supported by hundreds of thin legs.

Benji barely ducked in time as one of its bladed arms slashed past his head. “Damn thing’s fast!”

Mira’s wind contracts surged forward, twin hawks buffeting the creature with razor-sharp gales, forcing it back just enough for her to unleash a concussive blast straight at its midsection. The impact sent cracks through the exoskeleton of its lower body.

Kain saw his moment. “Aegis!”

In an instant, the blackened ground beneath the Abyssal writhed to life. Tendrils aimed at draining its abyssal-energy shot up, latching onto the creature’s body. The monster screeched as its abyssal energy was forcefully stripped away, its movements slowing as its power was drained.

However, it was still a high-level abyssal. The extent of Aegis’ ability was to cause a debuff to its strength, but it still had much of the power of a high-level abyssal.

Sera didn’t hesitate. She touched Benji’s daggers, and a faint silver glow enveloped them. “Now!” she shouted.

Benji intentionally disrupted the flow of energy in the enchanted knife, a method commonly used when wanting to cause any enchanted item to explode. However, due to it resulting in the loss of the item it was seldom used.

Moreover, it was hard to control the timing of when the object finally blew and it was just as likely that the sacrificed object would end up blowing up the owner before it could be thrown out.

However, with the reinforcement ability of Sera, it delayed the timing of the explosion, ensuring that Benji didn’t blow himself up.

Throwing the dagger forward, it pierced deep into the creature’s core. With a final shriek, the guardian convulsed as if resisting a massive amount of energy, an energy far exceeding what even an indigo-grade spiritual creature could produce, before exploding from the inside out in a gruesome display.

No time to celebrate. The war machine loomed before them, far larger once up close than it appeared from the city walls. Moreover, a couple of strikes to the machine by them didn’t even leave the slightest of marks and its glowing core began to pulse again.

My Virtual Library Empire

“How the hell do we take this thing down?” Benji murmerd.