My Fusion System: Fusing Weak Soldiers with Direwolves at the Start-Chapter 55: It’s Either Me Or Hound

Before he could regain himself, a bat slapped him into the air with its wings, sending Kaelor hurtling through the darkness. His body crashed against the cavern wall with a thunderous impact that echoed across the hollow expanse. Dust and loose stone fell from above as he crumpled to the floor.

Several bats closed in like a pack of wolves sensing blood. They clawed at his clothes, attempting to rip through to his flesh, but their fangs and talons skidded uselessly off the Mountainhide Armour. Sparks danced across his body with every frenzied strike. Then, a massive gray-skinned bat, its face scarred from countless hunts, lunged forward, mouth wide, yellowed teeth gleaming as it prepared to bite down on Kaelor’s exposed head.

He snarled and sent a surge of mana to his left leg, veins glowing faintly beneath his skin. With explosive force, he shot upward, bursting through the cluster of bats like a cannonball, his claws outstretched. As he passed the gray bat, he raked across its face, tearing five deep, bloody gouges into its leathery flesh. It shrieked in agony, flapping backward.

From behind, a sleek black bat dove down and sank its long fangs into his shoulder—only for its teeth to catch awkwardly against the hardened inner armour. Its eyes widened, just in time to see Kaelor’s fist slam into its face with punishing force.

The impact sent the creature skidding across the rocky floor, tumbling over its own wings. Kaelor gritted his teeth and retrieved his longsword, Ignis, dashing forward once more as the gray bat, wounded but not dead, began to rise into the air.

Suddenly, from above, another bat came, larger, darker, a blur of wings and malevolence. It dropped like a shadow over moonlight, growing larger in his eyes. Instinct took over. He dropped to a slide across the stone floor, dust rising from his boots, and narrowly avoided its claws. It crashed behind him, wings flailing, its screech following Kaelor as he sprang back to his feet.

Then came the roar.

Kaelor looked up just in time to see Hound standing atop a jagged boulder, muscles taut, sabers raised. With a feral cry, he launched himself high into the air and brought both Mountain Sabers down with all the raw might in his body. The blades cleaved through the gray bat’s back like they were cutting cloth.

The bat screamed again, a piercing, unnatural sound that shattered the tension in the air. Kaelor winced as the frequency stabbed into his skull like knives. Hound fell on his knees, visibly more affected due to his proximity.

Vi, on the other side of the cavern, faltered in her spellcasting. A bat’s tail slammed her mid-spell, launching her against the stone wall with a grunt. She hit the ground hard, leaving a streak across the dust and rocks.

Despite the pain slicing through Kaelor’s mind, he gritted his teeth and tightened his grip around Ignis. With a sharp upward arc, he brought the longsword clean through the gray bat’s head, cleaving it down the middle. The beast’s body fell like a boulder, splitting the ground with its mass and raising a thick cloud of dust. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Retreat!" Kaelor roared, hoisting Hound’s heavy frame over his shoulder and pushing through the chaos to regroup with the Guardsmen.

Around them, the battle raged. Some Guardsmen were pulled to the ground, mauled, their shields dented and bodies bloodied. Others stood their ground, disciplined and tenacious, fighting shoulder to shoulder with shield and Mountain Saber. They bled, but they did not break.

Side by side, Kaelor and Hound carved through the tide. Their coordination was a deadly dance, Kaelor striking high, Hound sweeping low. Wings were sheared off mid-flight, heads removed in clean arcs, and deep slashes carved open chests and throats. Dozens of bats littered the floor, lifeless, twitching, or crawling with broken limbs.

Across the chamber, Vi pressed forward alongside two Guardsmen. Both shield-bearers held firm, protecting her flanks as she moved between them. Her eyes blazed with focus. She conjured flameball after flameball, hurling them in succession. Each explosion illuminated the cavern in flashes of orange and red, roasting bats mid-flight and charring the stone floor.

"We’re close," she muttered under her breath, determination burning in her voice.

But then came a sound like rushing wind, followed by darkness. A massive swarm descended from above, dozens of bats swirling like a black hurricane. Wings beat like war drums. Low, throaty roars echoed off the stone. Grotesque faces emerged from the dark, twisted and fanged.

And then they struck.

"No!" Vi screamed at the top of her lungs as both Guardsmen were lifted off the ground, claws digging into thick skin, wings thrashing violently as the bats bore them upward while they stabbed and fought.

More of the creatures surged toward her, blotting out the flame’s light until she was swallowed in moving darkness. The heat dimmed. It was as if the world had vanished, replaced by a suffocating void that clawed at her skin and filled her lungs.

Her Focus Crystal flared, bright as a newborn star, casting jagged shadows along the cavern walls. Words tumbled from her lips, ancient and desperate, faster than any mortal tongue should form.

She slammed her palms onto the cold stone floor. A ring of fire burst forth, and in the next breath, a towering column of flame spiralled upward like a living thing, a hurricane of firestorm.

The bats shrieked. Their cries became wails of agony as their wings ignited, their flesh charred mid-flight. Almost a hundred fell, burning as they crashed into the cavern floor, twitching embers in their final throes. The stench of scorched hide filled the air. Vi stood amid it, breath ragged, eyes unfocused. Screams echoed around her, but they felt far away now, distorted, like sound from beneath water.

Her vision warped. Faces twisted in the flames. She flinched and flared her arms, unleashing another inferno from both hands. The blaze roared out like a dragon’s breath, unrelenting, consuming all before it. Stone blackened.

Her Focus Crystal suddenly fractured, a spiderweb of cracks racing through its core.

The flames died in an instant, snuffed out like a candle in the wind.

Vi collapsed to her knees. Ash clung to her cheeks like war paint. Around her, the charred remains of the fallen bats hissed as they cooled. The two Guardsmen, singed but alive, stared at the kneeling woman, speechless before the ruin she had wrought.

Silence returned. The surviving bats retreated, deeper into the cave’s gloom, their fear of flame overpowering their thirst for blood.

And then, a voice, soft, familiar, cut through the stillness.

"Are you alive?"

Vi raised her head, heart still pounding. Kaelor was there, dust on his cheek, golden hair tousled, crouched before her with his longsword held down for balance. He was breathing hard.

"I lost sight of you," she said, eyes scanning their surroundings.

Kaelor extended his hand. "Well, I’m here now. Can you walk?"

Vi nodded once and tried to rise. Her legs buckled beneath her.

Before she hit the ground, Kaelor caught her. With a smooth motion, he scooped her into his arms, carrying her effortlessly, one hand beneath her knees, the other behind her back.

"It won’t kill you to ask for help," he muttered.

Vi turned her head weakly. "I’m no noble damsel. I have no need for a knight."

Kaelor glanced down. "Well, it’s either me... or Hound."