Chapter 428 - 404: Hunter and Prey

Chapter 428: Chapter 404: Hunter and Prey

The powerful airflow howled past his ears. Ola had to focus his mind just to send his words through the Hive Terminal.

’Listen up, you bastards! We’ve been tailing this transport convoy for days, and there’s no mistake. Hector is concentrating supplies in Silverpine City, and right below us is that "Shit-Eating Marquis’s" transit station! It’s piled high with grain and refined iron.’ Ever since Stuka and the others had pulled that big stunt with the statue, "Shit-Eating Marquis" had become everyone’s affectionate nickname for Hector.

Ola rode on Stuka’s back, the fierce wind blowing his beard straight back like two Crimson Red brooms.

’If it’s salted fish, I’m tossing them into the sea.’

Stuka’s thought drilled directly into Ola’s skull. The great white bird adjusted the angle of its wings slightly, its massive body as steady as a rock in the airflow.

’Cut the crap. You think those grunts are just dumb birds?!’ Ola patted Stuka’s steel-hard neck muscles. ’The Count said that after this job, we’ll get to go back and rest for a while.’

Below, the silhouette of Silverpine City was faintly visible through the gaps in the clouds.

The city looked like a giant gray disc, and their target this time—the open-air freight yard north of the city—was piled with small mountains covered in tarps.

A few horse-drawn carts were moving around the freight yard like ants.

’First Squadron, on me.’ Ola lowered his center of gravity, his body nearly flat against the saddle. ’Time to make these noble lords scream a little.’

’Prepare to dive.’

Stuka let out a long, joyous cry.

Twenty Big Thief Gulls folded their wings in unison.

The circling white Ghosts became meteorites.

The familiar sensation of a rapid descent enveloped them.

Four thousand meters.

Three thousand meters.

The air tore apart with a sharp whistle. This was the unique death horn of the Stuka Corps.

’Hold steady! Don’t drop your bombs yet!’ Ola stared at the freight yard growing ever larger below, his battle-ax trembling slightly with excitement. ’You need to take every opportunity to practice. We’re going in lower!’

One thousand meters.

The details on the ground became crystal clear.

The supply piles covered in tarps, the carts parked beside them, and even a few soldiers standing guard at the entrance.

But strangely, the soldiers didn’t run.

They didn’t even look up.

They were like a group of puppets, standing rigidly in place.

’Paralyzed with fear?’ A flicker of doubt crossed Ola’s mind, but their descent was too fast, leaving no time for thought.

Five hundred meters.

’Release!’

Ola roared.

The rack on Stuka’s belly sprang open.

One after another, Alchemy Bombs whistled as they fell.

Ola yanked hard on the reins.

Massive G-forces crushed his body, blood rushing to his legs. His vision blacked out for an instant.

Stuka let out a pained shriek. Its powerful heart pumped scalding blood as it forced itself to trace a massive "J" in the sky at a low altitude of five hundred meters.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A continuous series of explosions echoed from behind.

Flames shot up into the sky.

The mountain-like piles of supplies were devoured by the inferno, just as they always were.

’Hahahaha! Jackpot!’

Cheers from the Knights erupted over the communication channel.

’Look at those flames! Must be oil! That bastard Hector is going to piss his pants from the loss!’

’This is too easy! It’s like bombing our own backyard!’

’Cut the crap! Who the fuck bombs their own backyard?!’

Ola glanced back.

The sea of fire churned.

The entire freight yard had become a blazing inferno.

But he wasn’t smiling.

His thick, dwarven eyebrows knitted into a tight knot.

It was too quiet.

Other than the explosions, there was nothing.

No counter-attack from anti-aircraft crossbows.

No shimmering shields from Mage towers.

Not even the damn alarm bells had been rung.

If this were a surprise attack, after the first bombing run, the city’s defenders should be scrambling like a stirred-up hornet’s nest—some fighting fires, some fleeing for their lives, some cursing up a storm. That would be the reaction of a living city.

But now, aside from the bombed freight yard, the whole of Silverpine City was as silent as a tomb.

The streets were empty.

The "pedestrians" who had been on the streets were knocked to the ground by the explosion’s shockwave, broken in two.

But the gruesome scene of gushing blood and flying limbs he had expected never appeared.

Ola’s eyes shot wide. Through his frosted goggles, he stared at the bizarre scene below.

An "old woman," thrown by the blast wave, had her head roll twice on the ground, revealing a thick wooden stick used for support protruding from her neck cavity. A "strong man" whose waist was blown in half revealed nothing but tightly bound straw beneath his tattered clothes.

Even the flames leaping from the freight yard were wrong. They were burning too fast, too fiercely. Instead of the characteristic smolder of burning grain or supplies, it was more like the blaze of dry tinder and dead grass!

The entire freight yard, even the entire city, was a fake.

They were scarecrows.

A whole city of scarecrows.

A chill shot up Ola’s spine to the crown of his head, freezing the boiling blood in his veins.

’Something’s wrong! We’ve been had!’

Ola immediately broadcast the message to everyone.

’Stop diving! Everyone, pull up! Pull up now!!’

’Boss? What’s wrong? We still have two bombs left to drop...’

’To hell with dropping them! It’s a trap!!’ Ola roared, spittle spraying across his goggles. ’Pull up! This whole damn place is an empty city!’

Before the words were even out.

BZZT—!

The public channel in his mind, which had been filled with the roar of the wind and his brothers’ chatter, fell silent without any warning.