My Fusion System: Fusing Weak Soldiers with Direwolves at the Start-Chapter 54: Cave Of Giant Devil Bats

Five hours later, when the sun blazed mercilessly above and the air shimmered with heat, a large force of Guardsmen assembled before the gaping mouth of the cave in Ivory Hills.

Their thick, leathery snouts twitched at the scent of dust and blood wafting from within, and when they spoke, their voices rumbled low, accompanied by the glint of fangs behind parted jaws. Shields were slung over their backs, while their sabers rested confidently in their claws, steel gleaming in the sun’s harsh light.

About nineteen among them stood out, Alpha Dreadclaws, taller, broader, their black fur marked with streaks of gray, as if time and war had painted them. Each one moved with a deliberate menace, their predatory gazes scanning the surroundings.

The rest were standard Dreadclaws, still formidable and battle-tested. Together, they formed a terrifying phalanx of strength, eyes fixed on the cave as if daring to defy what was within.

A few held blazing torches, their orange flames flickering against the pale light of noon. At the front of them all stood Kaelor, their commander, his posture tensed but resolute, with Ignis, his longsword, resting across his shoulder, unsheathed and gleaming like molten moonlight.

He had long learned the lesson Edric taught him with near-death precision: the beauty of a weapon meant nothing if it couldn’t be drawn in time. A mistake once, nearly a death sentence. Though Kaelor stood at a high rank, that flaw still haunted him. Ignis was no short blade, it was nearly as long as his leg, a silver-ranked sword that could cleave through the hide of a Wolf King or shear a human-sized bat clean in half. But use had dulled its enchantment. Its magical aspect, once brilliant, now pulsed faintly, still potent, but no longer fearsome.

Turning his head to the left, Kaelor gave a short nod to Hound, the silent signal of readiness. Hound nodded back, massive sabers resting against his back. Then Kaelor shifted his gaze to Vi, standing poised on his right, a curved dagger strapped tight against her hip, her fingers twitching slightly as if already imagining the rhythm of a fight.

Behind them stood a line of human Guardsmen, their faces masked by determination. Some tied ropes to heavy stones and prepared wooden pikes, their sharpened points like a forest of thorns. The clatter of wood and grunt of effort gave the still air a sense of anticipation, like a storm preparing to break.

Without a word, Kaelor lit his torch and hurled it forward into the yawning blackness of the cave. But instead of sailing far, the flame dropped almost instantly, vanishing into a shadowy chasm just beyond the entrance. It struck stone five meters below with a dull crack, and the flame sputtered into darkness, smothered by dust and decay.

Kaelor took hold of a rope and descended. As his boots touched the uneven floor of the cavern, a brittle snap echoed, he had stepped on a bone. The sound reverberated eerily, as if the cave itself was groaning in protest.

A moment later, thud!

Hound landed beside him, kicking up a cloud of bone dust. His muscular legs bent like springs, cleavers held ready, gleaming under the faint light that filtered down from above. He rose, eyes glowing slightly as he took in the cavern.

Vi followed, light on her feet. As the others descended one by one, she began murmuring under her breath. Words older than them, laced with fire. Threads of flame curled into existence, dancing around their group like tame spirits, illuminating the jagged rock walls and glinting off the remnants of a hundred deaths.

Seeing the conjured fire, the Dreadclaw torchbearers grunted in unison and tossed their torches aside. They readied their shields instead, crouching slightly as instincts sharpened. The stillness of the cave was deceptive.

Vi exhaled softly. "I thought my days as a mercenary were over," she muttered to no one in particular, eyes flicking toward the deeper shadows. "This feels like I’ve stepped right back into them."

Kaelor glanced her way, then returned his gaze to the yawning darkness ahead. Without a word, he raised Ignis, its edge catching the firelight, and began to walk forward, into the black throat of the abyss.

A couple of steps in, Vi suddenly said something Kaelor didn’t expect to hear.

"You know Mildred wants to help."

He exhaled slowly. "She might have new capabilities, but she’s not a fighter. Even if she mastered all the spells of a true Acranist witch, this isn’t the place for her."

"You adore your maid," Vi muttered with a click of her tongue. "Am I not an Acranist too?"

Kaelor scowled. "I’ve seen you practice with a stick. You’re not just good at magic, you can handle yourself in close combat too. Not that I expected less from a woman who once led five thousand fighters."

Vi narrowed her eyes. "You were spying on me?"

Before Kaelor could respond, a strange fluttering echoed overhead. Tiny bits of stone and dust trickled down from the cavern’s ceiling.

"My Lord..." Hound said softly, his voice tense as he gripped his cleavers. "They’re above us."

At his words, Vi made a quick hand signal. Flames burst to life, flaring around the group and throwing their surroundings into stark relief.

Hundreds of human-sized bats hung from the lofty ceiling, wings wrapped tight around their bodies.

With a shrill, piercing cry, the creatures stirred.

Then they dropped. Kaelor locked his sight on a bat and raced toward it, his boots pounding against the stone floor. With a burst of speed, he leapt into the air, cloak billowing behind him. His sword came down in a powerful arc, slicing clean through the bat’s leathery left wing, but missing the head by inches!

Still airborne, just before landing, Kaelor twisted mid-fall and seized the creature’s long, veined tail. With a grunt, he yanked it downward, dragging the shrieking beast along as he dropped.

The moment his boots touched ground, Ignis, his longsword now glowing red and steaming with heat, plunged straight through the bat’s skull, sizzling as it melted bone and brain.

But there was no time to breathe. As he wrenched the sword free with a spray of dark blood, three more bats shrieked and dove at him in unison. Shadows flitted around him, some landing behind with heavy thuds, others swooping from above, talons extended and fangs bared.

Kaelor gritted his teeth, shifting his weight to prepare for another strike, when suddenly, a piercing shrill erupted through the air. It wasn’t a mere cry, it was a weaponized screech, so high and sharp it cracked through his thoughts like shattered glass.

The sound drilled into his eardrums with vicious intensity.

Kaelor dropped to his knees, eyes clenched shut, sword trembling in his hand.