Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 401

Chapter 401: Chapter 401 - Tamers War - The Bridge

Victor soared above the air currents that his Giant Golden Eagle generated effortlessly, his eyes scanning the battlefield with the advantage only an elite aerial tamer like him could obtain.

Beneath his feet, the impressive kilometer and a half long abyss bridge stretched, the last connection between the two parts of the human world, supporting itself from both sides to traverse the impossible depth of the void. Its twin lanes were divided by a small low wall that separated directions, designed to precisely control the flow of goods between the kingdoms.

But now, instead of merchants and caravans coming and going, Yino troops marched in standard formation across both lanes, transforming the massive structure’s ’round-trip flow’ into a unidirectional tide of war.

’Cunning bastards,’ Victor thought while evaluating the enemy force. ’They didn’t wait even a second for us to be ready to stop them.’

From his elevated position, he could clearly see how the Yano troops that had been stationed on ’their half’ of the bridge had been forced to retreat before the enormous numerical difference.

Surely upon seeing the numbers against the scarce dozens of soldiers dedicated more to bureaucracy than battle, they decided it wasn’t even worth trying to stop them.

Although Victor wasn’t thrilled with the little resistance they put up... It was an intelligent tactical retreat. There was no sense in sacrificing valuable soldiers essential for economic functioning in what could have been a symbolic resistance.

’Shit, I’m becoming a decrepit old man. I should have chosen a vitality beast as a second one. I’m already thinking like Arturo and I’m barely in my forties...’

Although impulsive and perhaps overly optimistic, Victor was quite a good commander due to his Giant Golden Eagle. His panoramic view of the field normally gave him many advantages. And having a high-level beast at Gold 2 also implied almost undisputed dominion over airspace.

Unfortunately, much of what could be done tactically on the bridge didn’t depend too much on that general overview of all surrounding places, because things were happening in one single location... the bridge.

However, it still had its merits.

His eagle banked in an updraft, giving him a complete view of the advancing enemy formation. It was textbook perfect: Wood and Earth elementals at the front, the most resistant and defensive, creating a mobile wall of protection. Behind them, they positioned the best Fire and Wind attackers, with some Water supports and healers covered by the majority.

The rarer elements, Light, Darkness, and neutrals, were scattered throughout the formation like wild cards, hidden and ready to be deployed when their distinct abilities would be most relevant.

’A solid formation,’ Victor admitted mentally, ’but predictable.’

The bridge’s structure not only negated his usefulness with aerial vision, it also made any complex maneuvering impossible. It was, almost literally, a bottleneck, a narrow corridor. There were no flanks to protect, no high ground to take. Just brute force against brute force from soldiers at the front of their formations in the lanes.

The only option was to prevent them from finishing their crossing normally.

Victor had briefly considered the option of destroying the bridge, but dismissed the idea almost instantly. The enormous structure had been created with the highest level powers available in both kingdoms, extremely resistant and massive.

Too much even for his Gold 3 Qilin...

While the usable part at the top wasn’t so wide or large, the support seemed practically like a natural event. The roots anchored on both sides extended several hundred meters down into the abyss.

If not broken completely the earth soldiers would just build the road on top of it again and he would waste strength in a meager result.

’Our morale could go down if I don’t make a good dent... Besides,’ he reminded himself, ’the bridge material isn’t just any rock...’

A small communication beast perched on his shoulder, carrying Julius’s question from central command.

"Initial assessment?"

Victor studied the enemy movements, noting details in their march that only his privileged position allowed him to see.

"Good, but not exceptional. Most seem to be mid-Silver..." he paused, calculating the implications, "numbers are definitely in their favor. Two to one, maybe more."

"Proceeding with the initial plan."

Victor finished writing and smiled, feeling the familiar surge of adrenaline that preceded real combat. The anticipation was intoxicating, finally, action instead of endless strategic meetings.

"Initiate measuring attack," he announced to the beasts surrounding him, small creatures from his communicators, a kind of unidirectional tactical communication that connected with ground units.

From his elevated position on his side of the bridge, he could see how Yano’s forces that had just arrived at the attacking range were organizing. Director Ignatius was clearly visible in the fire squadron even from that distance, his different attire standing out among the other high-level tamers that composed the attack group.

"Fire and Wind units!" Victor shouted, his voice amplified by his Qilin’s mana. "Coordinated attack in three... two... one... NOW!"

’I was right! Our Yano indeed had tamers of much better individual level.’

’Maximilian Vanthorne,’ he recognized. ’Looks like he’s the commander of this enemy operation.’